Selling Human Organs
Summary
TLDRThe video script explores the ethical implications of selling human organs, addressing the organ shortage and proposing solutions like intra-country sales and public agency regulation. It debates deontological arguments for body autonomy and the right to make decisions about one's own body, including the sale of organs. The script also raises concerns about exploitation of the poor and the potential decrease in voluntary donations. The discussion concludes with a consequentialist argument, questioning whether selling organs would truly increase their availability or merely exacerbate existing inequalities.
Takeaways
- 📊 There is a significant shortage of organs, particularly kidneys and livers, which some argue could be alleviated by allowing the sale of organs.
- 💼 The proposal to sell organs includes schemes such as pre-death contracts, paying relatives for deceased's organs, and individuals selling their own organs for money.
- 🏛️ Serious proposals suggest that organ sales should be restricted within individual countries to prevent exploitation of poorer countries by richer ones.
- 🏦 It is suggested that all organ sales should be regulated by a public agency to ensure fair transactions and prevent direct monetary exchanges between individuals.
- 💰 The prices for organs should be set generously to ensure that donors are adequately compensated for their contribution.
- 🧑⚕️ Deontological arguments support the sale of organs, emphasizing the individual's right to make decisions about their own body, even if those decisions are harmful.
- 🏭 The script compares organ selling to engaging in risky occupations for pay, suggesting that if we allow the latter, it's inconsistent not to allow the former.
- 🤔 The potential problem with organ sales is that it would primarily involve those in poverty, raising ethical concerns about exploiting the poor for the benefit of the rich.
- 💡 The speaker proposes an alternative to organ sales: an opt-out donation system with tax incentives, which could encourage more organ donations without exploiting the poor.
- 🤝 The discussion raises consequentialist arguments, suggesting that allowing organ sales could increase the number of available organs, save lives, and reduce suffering.
- 🚫 There are counterarguments that a paid organ system could increase fears of premature organ donation and potentially reduce the number of freely donated organs.
Q & A
What is the main issue discussed in the script?
-The main issue discussed in the script is the ethical and practical considerations of selling human organs, particularly in the context of organ shortages and the potential for exploitation of the poor.
Why is there a shortage of organs like kidneys and livers?
-The shortage of organs like kidneys and livers is due to a higher demand for these organs for transplantation compared to the supply available, which is often limited by the number of donors.
What are some of the schemes proposed for organ donation as mentioned in the script?
-The script mentions schemes such as paying individuals while they are alive for organs they would have after their death, paying relatives for the rights to organs of recently deceased loved ones, and paying individuals who need money to sell a kidney or part of a liver.
Why are there restrictions suggested for the sale of organs within a country?
-Restrictions are suggested to prevent rich countries from exploiting poor countries as 'organ farms' due to the potential for significant monetary gain from the exchange rate differences.
What is a deontological argument mentioned in the script for the sale of human organs?
-A deontological argument mentioned is that individuals have the right to make decisions about their own bodies, including the decision to sell their organs, as long as it does not substantially affect others.
How does the script compare the risks of organ donation to other risky occupations?
-The script compares the risks of organ donation to other risky occupations like coal mining, deep sea diving, firefighting, and military service, suggesting that since people are allowed to engage in these dangerous jobs for compensation, it is inconsistent not to allow organ sales.
What is the consequentialist argument for the sale of human organs presented in the script?
-The consequentialist argument presented is that allowing the sale of organs would alleviate the shortage of organs available for transplant, save more lives, increase happiness, and reduce suffering.
What is the speaker's personal stance on the sale of human organs, as mentioned in the script?
-The speaker is not in favor of selling organs, arguing that it would primarily exploit the poor and suggesting instead an opt-out donation system with tax incentives to encourage donations without exploitation.
How does the script address the potential exploitation of the poor in the context of organ sales?
-The script suggests that allowing the sale of organs would likely lead to the exploitation of the poor, as it would be those in need of money who would be more likely to sell their organs, and this is seen as an unjust practice.
What alternative solutions are proposed in the script to address the organ shortage without selling organs?
-The script proposes an opt-out donation system and tax incentives for organ donation as alternative solutions to address the organ shortage without resorting to the sale of organs.
Outlines
💼 The Ethics of Selling Human Organs
The paragraph discusses the concept of selling human organs to address the shortage of organs like kidneys and livers. It proposes that allowing sales could benefit all parties involved, including donors, medical professionals, and recipients. The speaker outlines various schemes for organ sales, such as posthumous donations with legal contracts or paying relatives for the rights to organs. The paragraph also introduces the idea of limiting sales to within individual countries to prevent exploitation and suggests regulation through public agencies with generous pricing for donors. The argument for organ sales is based on the deontological perspective that individuals have the right to make decisions about their bodies, even if those decisions are harmful, and compares organ sales to risky occupations that are legally permissible for compensation.
🏛️ The Exploitation and Justice in Organ Sales
This paragraph delves into the ethical implications of organ sales, particularly the potential for exploitation of the poor. The speaker argues that allowing organ sales could perpetuate and exacerbate poverty by incentivizing the poor to sell their organs out of desperation. It contrasts this with the idea that wealthy individuals are unlikely to sell their organs for money. The paragraph also raises the question of whether the current economic system, which allows for such disparities, can justify organ sales. The speaker suggests that the problem with organ sales is not unique to this practice but is also present in other high-risk jobs, leading to a broader discussion about social justice and the distribution of risk and reward in society.
🔍 Consequentialist Arguments and Policy Proposals
The final paragraph presented discusses a consequentialist argument for organ sales, which posits that allowing such transactions would alleviate the severe shortage of organs available for transplants, save lives, and reduce suffering. It acknowledges the minimal risk to donors and suggests that the benefits could outweigh the potential drawbacks. However, the speaker also presents counterarguments that suggest a paid organ system might increase fears of premature organ donation and decrease the number of voluntary donations. The paragraph concludes with a policy proposal to switch to an opt-out organ donation system with tax incentives to encourage participation without exploiting the poor, thus addressing both the ethical concerns and the practical goal of increasing the organ donor pool.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Organ Shortage
💡Deontological Arguments
💡Consequentialism
💡Exploitation
💡Risky Occupations
💡Public Agency Regulation
💡Generous Compensation
💡Opt-out Donation System
💡Tax Incentives
💡Ethical Theories
💡Injustice
Highlights
Discussion on the potential of selling human organs to alleviate shortages.
Proposals to limit organ sales to within individual countries to prevent exploitation.
Suggestion that all organ sales should be regulated through a public agency.
Argument that organ donors should be compensated at generous levels.
Deontological arguments supporting the right to make decisions about one's own body.
Comparison of organ sales to risky occupations like coal mining and military service.
Concern that organ sales would primarily involve those in poverty.
Critique of the idea that organ sales are exploitative and unjust.
Consequentialist argument that selling organs could save lives and reduce suffering.
Empirical objection that a paid organ system might decrease voluntary donations.
Proposal to switch to an opt-out organ donation system with tax incentives.
Ethical question regarding who would volunteer to sell their organs and the potential exploitation of the poor.
Discussion on the potential decrease in organ donation if organs are for sale.
Reflection on whether organ sales would increase the number of organs available or just redistribute existing donations.
Introduction to applied ethics through the lens of organ sales.
Invitation for students to consider the ethical implications of organ sales and personal body autonomy.
Transcripts
so now we're talking about selling human
organs remember there's this organ
shortage there's especially a shortage
of things like kidneys and livers and
some people believe that permitting the
sale of organs would help
relieve that shortage and if everyone
but the donor is already getting
something out of it either money like
the doctors and the surgeons and the
hospitals and all those people are
making money and the
person who's receiving the organ is
getting the benefit of that why not let
the
donor us
be able to
get something out of the process too and
sell it so there's some different
schemes for these different organ donor
places you could pay someone while
they're alive for organs that they would
have after their death and so you would
have some kind of legal contract
contractual agreement that when you die
your organs will go uh you could pay
relatives for the rights to organs of
recently deceased loved ones um or you
could pay the individual who needs
money to sell a kidney or part of a
liver to another
serious proposals hold first that the
sale should be limited to individual
countries because if you didn't if you
let anybody
sell organs from one country to another
then it would really just be rich
countries using poor countries as organ
farms right
because you know the the exchange rate
of the dollar you can make a huge uh
bargain by
buying someone in a poor country buying
an organ from someone in the poor
country so most serious proposals would
say look if we're going to do this we
have to have some restrictions it can
only be within like a country or
community or something like that you
can't go outside of those because that
would be taking advantage of poor people
another
part of this year's proposals is that
all sales should go through a public
agency to regulate them so that
there's not money being exchanged
between individuals but rather through a
public agency and then uh the third part
is the prices should be set at generous
levels for the donors so let me talk
about a few arguments for the sale of
human organs now these are more
deontological arguments which we haven't
really talked about yet we've talked
about consequentialism
these are deontological
arguments for the sale of human organs
but you'll see what that means coming up
and i don't think you need to know much
about theory in order to understand the
arguments themselves so the way that
this goes is that people have the right
to make decisions about their own bodies
even harmful decisions like alcohol
abuse we don't
forbid people from making bad decisions
about
abusing alcohol for their bodies you
know if they're doing something in
public they can harm people yes we do
but um people can make harmful decisions
and so as long as those decisions do not
substantially affect others now we know
that they affect others right if i have
an alcohol problem that affects my
family
but as long as they don't substantially
affect others
the argument goes we should permit them
to do as they please if some people want
to sell their organs they should be able
to do so according to this argument
unless someone can give a compelling
reason to override their wishes now
think about this
people can already sell their labor in
risky occupations for good pay coal
mining is a very risky
occupation but it pays well deep sea
diving you know fixing pipes under uh
water is a very dangerous job
firefighting is a dangerous job
military service and just war um we have
permit people to do all of those kind of
things and they're risky things you know
military service firefighting deep sea
diving all of these are ice road
truckers
those things all of these are dangerous
jobs and we allow people to do that for
compensation we say okay yes you can
do a dangerous job
to make more money and those occupations
are often riskier than organ donation
itself think about being a front line
soldier or something like that
so the argument goes it's inconsistent
not to allow people to sell organs i
should tap my tip my hat a little bit as
i'll say at the end i am not in favor of
selling organs and i'll give you reasons
why later but these i'm trying to do my
best to show you the arguments for um
that people say
might work for
the ability or giving people permission
to sell their organs now a problem with
this is that
it primarily would be only those who
really need money um who donate their
organs right um
it's not going to be a rich person
donating organs for money because they
don't need the money so again this is
kind of taking advantage of
poverty in a way
if we think of the idea as i do
it's just my politics you don't have to
agree with my politics i never care if
people agree with my politics but i
think poverty itself is an injustice in
a wealthy country
i think we could eliminate poverty and
you would only really find people
turning to organ donation living
donation or living sell sell sell of
organs if they were in um poverty and so
um
it if if that is an unjust system if
it's unjust for there to be poor people
in a rich country and i think there are
that is unjust then you can't have this
injustice driving or motivating the
decision a
a person well off won't turn to selling
an organ right and if it's already
unjust that there are people in such a
state that they would
sell an organ for that then
that looks like it would be it's a
problem with the system and we can't use
an unjust system to justify a practice
now
the problem is that this problem equally
applies to risky work right um and if we
some people say well look if you say
then if i hold the position that i do
that only poor people are going to turn
to this it is also true that only
people who
maybe
lack the opportunities
of wealthier people
maybe only those people will turn to
those risky professions in order to make
money because the people that had
opportunity
can get the money otherwise right
and so
that this problem that i'm mentioning
for the sale of human organs would apply
equally to risky work and some people
say well that means that this is like a
reductio ad absurdum argument you know
and you would say well
if the argument you're making against
the cell of human organs would also
make it improper to allow people to sell
their organs for dangerous jobs
then you have done then we can see that
that argument is wrong right because we
don't agree
that you can't sell your labor for risky
jobs
some of us might be just willing to bite
the bullet we might just be willing to
say yeah
you shouldn't uh
allow people to sell their um their
labor in dangerous work now military
work might be a little different right
because you might have ideals about
protecting and that's what police
officers
ideally do and soldiers ideally do is
protect people right
and so you might say that that ideal of
protecting people would override the
risky work but in other cases maybe not
just to make money
so
maybe that argument is good maybe it
isn't so let me talk about a
consequentialist argument for the sale
of human organs the argument is that
permitting the sale of organs would
solve the problem of the severe lack of
organs available for transplant the
majority of people on organ waiting
lists never receive an organ or they
have to wait for years the risk to the
donor is minimal we've talked about that
already and so it would save more people
it would increase happiness it would
reduce suffering if we allow people to
sell their organs now some people might
object to this empirically
people typically say that they don't
volunteer to donate
because they fear they will not be
treated will have their organs
prematurely donated which isn't true as
we talked about before
a paid system though would likely
increase that fear not reduce it if you
know you've been paid
to have your organs harvested then i
think that might increase the fear that
people will not treat um you uh it and
it wouldn't it might reduce not only
this the cell of organs but it might
reduce the idea of donating organs if we
started looking at people as these
flight commodities
if organs are
for sale it's easier to loan money to an
individual a loved one than to donate a
body part like in our current system so
some people argue empirically if you
allow the sale of human organs it would
reduce the number of donated freely
donated organs and so you would still
have the shortage so it wouldn't answer
the problem
so let me ask this ethical question
we've already kind of touched on it who
would volunteer to sell their organs is
it rich people or poor people
obviously rich people don't need the
money to sell the human organs so it
looks like we're exploiting the poor for
their organs and this is my take for
what it's worth you don't have to agree
with me in our current
unjust in my opinion
economic system organ donation would
exploit the poor for the sake of the
rich we should switch to an opt-out
donation system rather than the opt-in
donation system that we have maybe give
some kind of tax incentive for donating
it wouldn't be exp exploitative of the
poor since tax incentives don't really
affect the poor right uh so if if we
gave out tax incentives for
um donating your organs instead of
giving money
then i think a lot more middle-class
people um who don't need middle-class
and rich people who would uh benefit
from a tax break right uh poor people
typically don't have to pay at least
federal uh taxes
um you know they pay a little and then
they get it back
so tax incentives don't really work that
well for poor but it might work very
well for middle class and richer people
and so maybe we could do that instead of
doing the
other um the other service now this is
also true of a lot of things like i said
before dangerous jobs military service
those uh and that might be a reductio
but it might just be a way of us saying
well then we should also do something
similar with military service and
dangerous jobs and things like that and
have people
incentivize people from different
classes to do that not just people who
really need the money anyway
i think this issue of organ uh sale is
really interesting a lot of students i
think typically at the beginning think
oh yeah i should be able to do with my
body what i want but then if we think
about how it really does seem to exploit
poor people um we are raised with some
ethical questions and we're also
wondering if it even does what it says
it's going to do will it really increase
the number of organs or will it just
reduce the number of people who donate
organs and then even everything out
anyway i hope you enjoyed this our first
applied section we're going to dive into
some
different theories and then get some
more applied stuff later but this was
our first little dip into applying the
theories that we're talking about uh
ethical theories that we're talking
about and i hope you enjoyed it i really
enjoyed
talking about it
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