Body Parts: Property Rights and the Ownership of Human Biological Materials

1997 ◽  
Vol 25 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 210-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lori B. Andrews ◽  
Dorothy Nelkin
Keyword(s):  
Property Rights ◽  
Biological Materials ◽  
Body Parts

Property in Human Body Parts

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justine Pila
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual Property ◽  
Property Rights ◽  
Human Body ◽  
First Principles ◽  
The Political ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Cautionary Tale ◽  
Regulatory Approach ◽  
Legal Position ◽  
The Law

This chapter surveys the current legal position concerning property in bodies and bodily materials. Of especial relevance in the current age of advanced genetic and other bio technologies, it looks beyond property in bodies and their materials ‘as such’ to consider also (a) the availability of rights of personal and intellectual property in objects incorporating or derived from them, and (b) the reliance on quasi-property rights of possession and consent to regulate the storage and use of corpses and detached bodily materials, including so-called ‘bio-specimens’. Reasoning from first principles, it highlights the practical and conceptual, as well as the political and philosophical, difficulties in this area, along with certain differences in the regulatory approach of European and US authorities. By way of conclusion, it proposes the law of authors’ and inventors’ rights as simultaneously offering a cautionary tale to those who would extend the reach of property even further than it extends currently and ideas for exploiting the malleability of the ‘property’ concept to manage the risks of extending it.

Kant and Property Rights in Body Parts

1993 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 319-341 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen R. Munzer
Keyword(s):  
Property Rights ◽  
Moral Theory ◽  
Human Freedom ◽  
Human Being ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Single Finger ◽  
General Appeal

A “human being,” Kant writes, “is not entitled to sell his limbs for money, even if he were offered ten thousand thalers for a single finger” (LE 124). This arresting statement is part of a broader position of Kant’s according to which persons lack property rights in parts of their own bodies. One can find in his work at least three arguments in support of this position. One is an argument from human freedom. It is riddled with difficulties. The second is an argument from humanity and dignity. It has general appeal but does little to justify Kant’s verdict on some of his own examples. The last is an argument from self-respect. It has some force. Yet, unless one tempers the Kant of moral opinion with the Kant of moral theory, this argument sometimes delivers unacceptable answers to casuistical questions.

scholarly journals Βιοηθικά ζητήματα της χρήσης πτωματικών βιολογικών υλικών στην εκπαίδευση και στην έρευνα

Bioethica ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 15
Author(s):  
Konstantinos Katsos (Κωνσταντίνος Κάτσος) ◽  
Konstantinos Moraitis (Κωνσταντίνος Μωραΐτης) ◽  
Chara Spiliopoulou (Χαρά Σπηλιοπούλου)
Keyword(s):  
Property Rights ◽  
Human Body ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Biological Materials ◽  
The Past ◽  
Legislative Framework ◽  
The Uk

Can someone claim property rights on a corps e? If so, to whom it belongs? If not, are there anylimits to the "use exploitation" of the human body? This paper discusses the ethical issues that arise ineducation and research with cadaveric materials by conducting a review of the international litera ture. Inthe light of various scandals concerning the retention of cadaveric tissues and organs and their use ineducation and research, the legislative framework in the UK was revised in 2006 to regulate themanagement of a corpse. Similar acts exist in m any other countries. In Greece, the current legal systemonly regulates the use of biological materials for transplantation, leaving a "gap" in education andresearch issues after death. Greece must leave behind the paternalism of the past and follow the p rinciplesof information and consent.

An Uneasy Case against Property Rights in Body Parts

1994 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen R. Munzer
Keyword(s):  
Property Rights ◽  
Body Parts

This essay deals with property rights in body parts that can be exchanged in a market. The inquiry arises in the following context. With some exceptions, the laws of many countries permit only the donation, not the sale, of body parts. Yet for some years there has existed a shortage of body parts for transplantation and other medical uses. It might then appear that if more sales were legally permitted, the supply of body parts would increase, because people would have more incentive to sell than they currently have to donate. To allow sales is to recognize property rights in body parts. To allow sales, however, makes body parts into “commodities”—that is, things that can be bought and sold in a market. And some view it as morally objectionable to treat body parts as commodities.

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