title: The kindness of strangers: organ transplantation in a capitalist age.
abstract: The topic of organ transplantation is examined from the perspective of three authors: Robert Bellah, Jeremy Rifkin, and Margaret Jane Radin. Introduced by reflections on the development of the justification of organ transplantation within the Roman Catholic community and the various themes raised by the historical study in Richard Titmuss's The Gift Relationship, the paper examines how and in what ways the possible commodification of organs will affect our society and the impacts this may have on the supply of organs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Humanities and Arts, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA.
authors.forename: T A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Shannon
mesh_terms: D000533:Altruism; D030861:Capitalism; D002410:Catholicism; D003132:Commerce; D032821:Commodification; D037921:Gift Giving; D018594:Human Body; D006801:Humans; D012935:Social Justice; D014019:Tissue Donors; D009927:Tissue and Organ Procurement