Ethics and the Acquisition of Organs

T. M. Wilkinson is an Associate Professor in Political Studies at the University of Auckland. He is a political philosopher with a longstanding interest and publishing record in transplantation ethics. He has published on a wide range of topics besides transplantation, such as distributive justice, freedom, public health ethics, and research ethics. He was chair of the New Zealand government's Bioethics Council and is currently a member of its National Ethics Advisory Committee.

But Wilkinson's book is a good example of work in applied ethics which takes seriously the need to apply philosophical thinking to closely observed context, being well-informed of relevant scientific and medical facts, laws, policies, and just as importantly, giving extremely useful details on how practice often diverges from official policy. There should be more philosophical work like this.

• 1. INTRODUCTION ; 2. TRANSPLANTATION AND RIGHTS OVER OUR BODIES ; 3. THE POSSIBILITY OF POSTHUMOUS HARM ; 4. THE MORAL CLAIMS OF THE DEAD ; 5. THE DEAD AND THEIR FAMILIES ; 6. CONSENT AND UNCERTAINTY ABOUT THE WISHES OF THE DEAD ; 7. CONSCRIPTION ; 8. LIVING DONOR ORGAN TRANSPLANTATION ; 9. IMPARTIALITY, ACQUISITION, AND ALLOCATION ; 10. ORGANS AND MONEY ; Bibliography ; Index