Gresham College Lectures

Selling Yourself Short: The body, property and markets

• Gresham College

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It might be thought that if I own anything then I own my body and this idea has been crucial in justifying rights to private property through the exercise of my intellectual and physical capacities. In addition if I own my body it might be thought that I should be in a position to determine what I should do with it for example in selling organs and bodily products such as blood, stem cells or gene lines. In this lecture we shall look in detail at the issue of self ownership and its relationship to property rights and the idea of the body as a commodity.

This is a part of the lecture series, Religion and Values in a Liberal State.

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