Organ sales and social inequality

Abstract

The need to have more human organs for transplant has led to propose the legalization of organ sales, in order to increase their supply. When what is proposed is a regulated market that tries to avoid the most unfair effects of organ trade, there seems to be a presumption in favor of its legitimacy. Against this presumption, two types of arguments can be raised: those based on social inequality and those based on the degradation of the value of the human body. The first ones are analyzed here and we arrive at the conclusion that they do not seem enough to overcome the presumption. Therefore, only an argument of the second kind could justify the prohibition of commodification of human organs.