Professor Marilyn Strathern - Inroads on altruism
Duration: 27 mins 57 secs
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Description: | Much discourse in the field of organ and tissue donation suggests that people (in the UK) fear a constant shrinkage of the public virtue of altruism, which therefore needs propping up. It identifies an agent of such shrinkage: people are fearful of the inroads of commerce and monetary motives. At the same time the rates of different kinds of donations and for signing the organ donation register keep climbing all the time. This would be an interesting arena to contemplate, since what is public and what is private is blurred, not least in the involvement of families and relatives where other-interest and self-interest overlap. Otherwise put, there is a flourishing way in which these elements are being combined (is for instance the new Welsh legislation for organ donation opt-out creating a new commons?). |
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Created: | 2015-01-13 15:09 |
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Collection: |
Shrinking Commons Conference
Shrinking Commons |
Publisher: | University of Cambridge |
Copyright: | Professor Marilyn Strathern |
Language: | eng (English) |
Keywords: | Shrinking Commons; |
Abstract: | Much discourse in the field of organ and tissue donation suggests that people (in the UK) fear a constant shrinkage of the public virtue of altruism, which therefore needs propping up. It identifies an agent of such shrinkage: people are fearful of the inroads of commerce and monetary motives. At the same time the rates of different kinds of donations and for signing the organ donation register keep climbing all the time. This would be an interesting arena to contemplate, since what is public and what is private is blurred, not least in the involvement of families and relatives where other-interest and self-interest overlap. Otherwise put, there is a flourishing way in which these elements are being combined (is for instance the new Welsh legislation for organ donation opt-out creating a new commons?). |
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