Herring Jonathan, Chau P-L
Exeter College, , Oxford, UK
J Med Ethics. 2014 Jan;40(1):39-43. doi: 10.1136/medethics-2012-100904. Epub 2013 Mar 20.
This article argues against the case for regarding bodies and parts of bodies to be property. It claims that doing so assumes an individualistic conception of the body. It fails to acknowledge that our bodies are made up of non-human material; are unbounded; constantly changing and deeply interconnected with other bodies. It also argues that holding that our bodies are property does not recognise the fact that we have different attitudes towards different parts of our removed bodies and the contexts of their removal. The appropriate legal reform should, therefore, be to produce a statute which can provide a balance between the competing personal, social and interpersonal interests in different body parts.
