title: Gifts of the body and the needs of strangers.
abstract: Relationships governed by markets keep moral and social dimensions to a bare minimum. Gifts, by their open-endedness, defy such minimalization. Impersonal gifts such as blood or body parts or charity may not regulate relationships between specific individuals, but they serve other functions by regulating larger relationships and honoring important human values, precisely those threatened by massive and impersonal bureaucracies.
mesh_terms: D035843:Biomedical Research; D001782:Blood Donors; D032982:Contracts; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D037921:Gift Giving; D018594:Human Body; D006801:Humans; D038622:Internationality; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D028681:Moral Obligations; D009014:Morals; D028701:Patient Rights; D035842:Research Subjects; D012935:Social Justice; D012945:Social Values; D014019:Tissue Donors; D009927:Tissue and Organ Procurement