New Harvest: Transplanting Body Parts and Reaping the Benefits (Contemporary Issues in Biomedicine, Ethics, and Society)

New Harvest includes contributions from specialists in medical, philosophical, psychological, religious, and legal fields. These essays are not simply a collection, but were developed from a single conception of the four ethical concerns of trans plan tation described in the first chapter. The indi vid ual chapters are all parts of a structure unified by the search for ethical foundations basic to the four concerns. Transplantation is surrounded by a great deal of under standable emotional sensitivi ty. The authors trust that words like "procurement," "harvest," and possibly other expressions found in this book will not offend. We use the current lan but do so with objectivity and respect for those who guage, are personally involved in transplantation. We have made room for, and indeed have invited, different and sometimes conflicting points of view on the complicated ethical ques tions raised by transplant operations. We can not assume that there is one right answer to these questions, at least at our present level of scientific knowledge and ethical wisdom. We do not presume to have identified and analyzed all the ethical questions raised with equal thoroughness. There are four ways in which the scope of the book is limited. Identifying these limitations also helps designate what it is in its own right. First, some questions have been given more attention than others.