| Description |
In the seventeenth century, John Locke asked whether we would end up with the same person if we replaced bodily parts one by one. He concluded t h a t the person would remain the same, despite continued replacement of material parts, because the identity of a human being consists of continued participation in the same organized life.1 Locke's speculation is not nearly so hypothetical today as it once must have seemed. We now have available, in more or less developed states, artificial skin, blood vessels, kidneys, ears, joints, hands, feet, hearts and heart valves. We can grasp, pump blood, hear, and filter wastes, all with artificial devices. We can transplant corneas, bone marrow, livers, kidneys, hearts and lungs. With the recent implantation of the artificial heart, there is a growing dispute about whether natural organ transplantation or artificial organ implantation present the best long-range therapeutic prospects.2 |
