Jesse Wall
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- August 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780198727989
- eISBN:
- 9780191794285
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198727989.003.0004
- Subject:
- Law, Philosophy of Law, Human Rights and Immigration
This chapter assesses whether a person ought to be able to profit from the relinquishment or transfer of bodily material. Three arguments are advanced. First, it is not possible to justify the right ...
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This chapter assesses whether a person ought to be able to profit from the relinquishment or transfer of bodily material. Three arguments are advanced. First, it is not possible to justify the right to profit upon a pre-social basis of ownership, as there is a logical distinction between the content of the right and the pre-social attributes and characteristics of the person. Second, it may be possible to justify the right to profit on the social basis that the exercise of the right will lead to an increase in the availability of bodily material, provided that there is a value equivalence between the value of the bodily material and the value of the financial benefit. Third, the increased availability of bodily material is likely to be the result of financial pressures on progenitors, and such pressure may denigrate the value of the body and vitiate their ‘self-ascription’.Less
This chapter assesses whether a person ought to be able to profit from the relinquishment or transfer of bodily material. Three arguments are advanced. First, it is not possible to justify the right to profit upon a pre-social basis of ownership, as there is a logical distinction between the content of the right and the pre-social attributes and characteristics of the person. Second, it may be possible to justify the right to profit on the social basis that the exercise of the right will lead to an increase in the availability of bodily material, provided that there is a value equivalence between the value of the bodily material and the value of the financial benefit. Third, the increased availability of bodily material is likely to be the result of financial pressures on progenitors, and such pressure may denigrate the value of the body and vitiate their ‘self-ascription’.
