Guts
Organ donation as a transhumanist technology can complicate our ethics.
Take this somewhat classic utilitarian dilemma:
With the invention of organ donation, our bodies enter the ethical picture, and they carry ethical weight. We can no longer act as though humans are single units, to be pushed in front of trains or to be saved, they are bodies. And they are not necessarily whole bodies, and if they are, they do not have to, and will not necessarily, remain whole.
Now include the non-ideal parts of human ethical thinking in the discussion. While there are some religions that would prohibit it (I'm thinking of Judaism), what about donating your organs after you have stopped using them? What about using your organs once you have died? Surely in most cases, we ought to donate our organs after death, as they would provide life-saving benefit to others, and no benefit to ourselves. But the statistics in the U.S. where organ donation is voluntary, don't reflect this thinking. While 95% of eligible Americans surveyed agreed with organ donation, only 54% were signed up to donate. And many myths about organ donation persist: That organ donation is dangerous; that it visibly damages the body; that a cost is incurred by the donor family. This adds up to what I would consider to be a medical crisis, with a waiting list that continues to increase.
Compare this to the systems of other countries. In Wales, there is presumed consent for organ donation, where your organs are donated unless you or your family specifically object to it. However it seems that the "law is present but not enforced", and may actually harm the image of organ donation in Wales and the UK. China, until recently, officially made use of organs from executed prisoners in transplant procedures.
My thoughts are that organ donation is a concept that lies too close to death in the American psyche and that we have not developed ways of talking about death and dying as a culture that allow us to make nuanced decisions about it. Our culture does have ways of handling organ donation, in the form of solicitation and crowdsourcing on social media - that seems to be the American way. We don't like to think about death until it happens, or unless we think we continue to exist after death.
My hopes related to this ethical decision-making are that with cultural shifts we can dispel the myths of organ donation, create viable cultural images of organ donation, and encourage more people to make ethically consistent organ donation choices (which should increase the number of donors). Cultural shifts are the way that we can develop the ethical courage needed to donate our organs and to pass legislation that makes donation easier or more effective.
I'm an organ donor by the way, and I hope I die in a way that lets my organs be shipped to the four corners of the earth to help people, and the rest can be worm and tree food. I hope this inspired you or at least made you curious. Thanks to my girlfriend for inspiring this post.
Take this somewhat classic utilitarian dilemma:
A doctor has several patients who will die if they don't receive organ donations. Perhaps one needs replacement kidneys, another needs a replacement heart, or whatever. Now supplies of these organs have come short, and there are no spare organs. There are, however, a number of healthy people available who could be suitable donors, except that they are unwilling to sacrifice themselves to save the others. The number of people required to supply the organs is less than the number of lives can be saved by carrying out the transplants and, in this situation, it is suggested, utilitarianism supports killing some people to save the lives of those in need of replacement organs, since the harm of killing a few is supposed to be less than the harm of many dying.This does not always follow, depending on who is killed and who is saved by the organ donation, but sometimes the killing does follow. And if the virtue of autonomy is at stake, there is still the question, why do you not volunteer to donate your organs? As long as we are thinking ideally (and I won't keep doing that), might it be that all utilitarians should have one arm, one leg, one eye, one lung, and one kidney? Maybe a smaller liver? The list for organ donation is currently too long to help everyone at the current rate of donation. If you donated, to would be helping someone who needed the donation. If you are truly utilitarian, what good reason is there to object to organ donation, when it could help someone more than it would hurt you?
With the invention of organ donation, our bodies enter the ethical picture, and they carry ethical weight. We can no longer act as though humans are single units, to be pushed in front of trains or to be saved, they are bodies. And they are not necessarily whole bodies, and if they are, they do not have to, and will not necessarily, remain whole.
Now include the non-ideal parts of human ethical thinking in the discussion. While there are some religions that would prohibit it (I'm thinking of Judaism), what about donating your organs after you have stopped using them? What about using your organs once you have died? Surely in most cases, we ought to donate our organs after death, as they would provide life-saving benefit to others, and no benefit to ourselves. But the statistics in the U.S. where organ donation is voluntary, don't reflect this thinking. While 95% of eligible Americans surveyed agreed with organ donation, only 54% were signed up to donate. And many myths about organ donation persist: That organ donation is dangerous; that it visibly damages the body; that a cost is incurred by the donor family. This adds up to what I would consider to be a medical crisis, with a waiting list that continues to increase.
Compare this to the systems of other countries. In Wales, there is presumed consent for organ donation, where your organs are donated unless you or your family specifically object to it. However it seems that the "law is present but not enforced", and may actually harm the image of organ donation in Wales and the UK. China, until recently, officially made use of organs from executed prisoners in transplant procedures.
My thoughts are that organ donation is a concept that lies too close to death in the American psyche and that we have not developed ways of talking about death and dying as a culture that allow us to make nuanced decisions about it. Our culture does have ways of handling organ donation, in the form of solicitation and crowdsourcing on social media - that seems to be the American way. We don't like to think about death until it happens, or unless we think we continue to exist after death.
My hopes related to this ethical decision-making are that with cultural shifts we can dispel the myths of organ donation, create viable cultural images of organ donation, and encourage more people to make ethically consistent organ donation choices (which should increase the number of donors). Cultural shifts are the way that we can develop the ethical courage needed to donate our organs and to pass legislation that makes donation easier or more effective.
I'm an organ donor by the way, and I hope I die in a way that lets my organs be shipped to the four corners of the earth to help people, and the rest can be worm and tree food. I hope this inspired you or at least made you curious. Thanks to my girlfriend for inspiring this post.
I am also an Organ Donor. When I first got my drivers license, one of the last questions on the application was if I wanted to be an organ donor. Being young, I asked my mom what that meant. She explained what it meant and how it could help people. It made the decision to be an Organ Donor easier that she was also an organ donor. From your stats in the UK, it’s disheartening that the law says you are an Organ Donor unless stated otherwise, but enforcement seems sporadic. A law like that could potentially save thousands of lives or at least ease the suffering of many. I absolutely agree with you that being an organ donor is talked about in hushed tones, like did you vote this past election or which political party are you associated with? I don’t recall asking to many people if they are an organ donor or not, but the response is usually “none of your business”. I’m not sure why people don’t automatically sign up to be an Organ Donor…maybe there is some research into that? But, my personal opinion is that if I’m gone, maybe I can continue to help others.
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