Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 30, 2026

Procurement of Parathyroid Glands from Living Donor Pigs and Ex Vivo Identification
Published on: August 1, 2025
Respect for autonomy in systems of postmortem organ procurement: A comment
1Department of Philosophy, University of Amsterdam, Haarlem, Netherlands.
Abstract:
In 2015 Robert Veatch published the second edition of his Transplantation ethics, this time together with Lainie Ross. The chapters on postmortem organ procurement distinguish between 'giving' and 'taking' systems, and argue that 'taking' systems may promise a greater yield of organs for transplantation, but inevitably violate a requirement of respect for the deceased's autonomy. That argument has been very influential, and is also representative of a way of thinking that is widespread in the literature and in public debate. In this paper I contend that it is conceptually flawed in a number of important respects. These concern the understanding of both the concept of 'consent' and the requirement of respect for autonomy, the role of the relatives in any procurement system, and the factors that actually determine the extent to which a system respects autonomy, under any interpretation of that requirement.
Related Concept Videos
Area Between Curves: Integrating With Respect to y
Area Between Curves: Integrating With Respect to x
Levels of Organization
Molecules Are Composed of Atoms, and Biomolecules Are Assembled from Molecules:
The most basic levels include atoms, molecules, and biomolecules. Atoms, the smallest unit of ordinary matter, are composed of a nucleus and electrons. Molecules...
Second Order systems II
Comparative Excretory Systems
First Order Systems
When a first-order system is subjected to a unit-step input, its response is characterized by its transfer function. By applying the Laplace transform of the unit-step input to the transfer function, expanding the...

