Self-Ownership, Property Rights, and the Human Body
A Legal and Philosophical Analysis

How should the law deal with the challenges of advancing biotechnology? This book is a philosophical and legal re-analysis.

Muireann Quigley (Author)

9781108797740, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 2 January 2020

362 pages
15.2 x 23 x 1.8 cm, 6 kg

'In sum, Quigley's book is a feat of thorough and innovative legal and philosophical argument on a highly topical issue. It is dense and technical without being tedious. Reading it is an immensely rewarding endeavour.' Barbara Prainsack, Medical Law Review

How ought the law to deal with novel challenges regarding the use and control of human biomaterials? As it stands the law is ill-equipped to deal with these. Quigley argues that advancing biotechnology means that the law must confront and move boundaries which it has constructed; in particular, those which delineate property from non-property in relation to biomaterials. Drawing together often disparate strands of property discourse, she offers a philosophical and legal re-analysis of the law in relation to property in the body and biomaterials. She advances a new defence, underpinned by self-ownership, of the position that persons ought to be seen as the prima facie holders of property rights in their separated biomaterials. This book will appeal to those interested in medical and property law, philosophy, bioethics, and health policy amongst others.

1. Bodies of value
Part I. Human Tissues and the Law: 2. Regulating the uses of biomaterials: consent and authorisation
3. Property in the body?
4. A property (r)evolution?
Part II. Property and Persons: 5. What is property? I: bundles and things
6. What is property? II: rights and interests
7. The scope and bounds of self-ownership
Part III. Beyond Self-Ownership: 8. Property rights in biomaterials
9. Transferring bodily property
10. The future of human biomaterials?

Subject Areas: Biotechnology [TCB], Bio-ethics [PSAD], Science funding & policy [PDK], Medicine [M], Medical & healthcare law [LNTM], Law [L]