Ethical, medical and legal problems of organ transplantation

Vol. 21 Iss. 1 pp. 121–129 | St. Petersburg State Institute of Psychology and Social Work | ISSN: 1993-8101
2014 • Issue 1 • Volume 21Research in humanities and social science

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Abstract

Debate on organ transplantation in bioethics raise question of criteria for determining death. Modern medicine defi nes death as the loss of specifi c function or set of functions. This is a functional approach to the defi nition of death. However, attempts to determine death from the functional perspective ignore the moral aspect of the problem of death. Development of transplantation raised sharp issue on the possibility of using xenotransplantation. The admissibility of xenotransplantation suggests a distinction in issues of individual and social acceptability of this practice. Ethical problem of xenotransplantation refers to the problem of determining the moral status of animal experimentation. According to the process philosophy, we have more obligations to entities, possessing more signifi cant experience. Thus, the main objective is to fairly prioritize in relation to the living. Therefore, the process philosophy gives priority to human needs even when it comes to issues of (xeno) transplantation.

Keywords

«Dead donor rule», functional approach to the defi nition of death, xenotransplantation, individual and social acceptability of xenotransplantation, religious objection to xenotransplantation, medical objection to xenotransplantation, moral status of animals, process philosophy

Citation

Citation — Harvard Notation

References

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