Altruism Reconsidered: Exploring New Approaches to Property in Human Tissue

As the use of human body parts has become increasingly commercialized, a need has arisen for new approaches to regulation that moves beyond the paradigm of altruism. During the course of this discussion, the notion of property has become a key concept. Focusing on practical and conceptual perspectives, the multidisciplinary group of authors, which includes specialists in philosophy, law, sociology, biology and medicine, have come together with practicing lawyers to consider both legal provisions and patterns of regulation in countries across Europe. Identifying divergences between different legal traditions, the authors explore various conceptual models which could be used to improve and to guide policy making. With this twin focus on practical and conceptual perspectives, this volume sets the standard for a detailed and innovative discussion of issues surrounding the regulation of research on human tissue.

About the Author

Dr Michael Steinmann is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey. Prior to this, he taught philosophy at the Pennsylvania State University and was a Research Fellow at the Institute of Ethics and History of Medicine, University of Tubingen, where he was involved in several projects on problems of biotechnological innovation, regenerative medicine and tissue engineering. He is the co-author of a book on standards in clinical studies. His research interests include standards of rationality and the plurality of values in bioethics. Professor Dr Peter Sýkora holds the Chair of Philosophy at the University of Saints Cyril and Methodius in Trnava. He is a member of the National Ethics Committee, Vice-Chairman of the National UNESCO Bioethics Committee in Slovakia and is included in the UNESCO Global Ethics Observatory database of ethics experts. His research interests include the conceptualization of human nature and the early human embryo, ethics of stem cell research and PGD, infanticide, ethnicity, and evolution theory. Professor Dr Urban Wiesing holds the Chair of Medical Ethics at the University of Tubingen and is Director of the Institute of Ethics and History of Medicine. Professor Wiesing is also Chairman of the Institutional Review Board of the Faculty of Medicine and deputy member of the IRB Board of Physicians of Baden-Wurttemberg. He is also Chairman of the Central Ethics Committee at the Federal Board of Physicians. His fields of research include ethical and philosophical implications of genetic screening, reproductive medicine and genetics, and research ethics.