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The Issue Of Donating Your Body To Science Philosophy Essay

Paper Type: Free Essay Subject: Philosophy
Wordcount: 1606 words Published: 1st Jan 2015

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By donating your body, you can help scientists find cures and treatments to diseases and/or cancer and much more. Donating your body to scientists is your own decision. There are several reasons why you should donate your body to science. There are also several reasons why you should not donate your body to science. Donating your body to science will help a current student in the medical field of profession work and practice on a dead, lifeless body before they have to work on a living, breathing body. But there are some religions that dislike a person donating their body to anything. Some religions are very strict on body and organ donation. I will provide several reasons why you should donate your body. I will also provide several reasons why you might not want to donate your body. Also, I will inform you on how and what you will have to do if you want to donate your body to science, and if you want to donate your body to a medical field to help future doctors and surgeons learn how to practice on people.

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A person can choose whether they want to donate their body to science, become an organ donator, or neither of the two. If a person is to become an organ donor, they cannot donate their body to science. If a person is to donate their body to science, they cannot become an organ donator. It is a person’s choice whether or not they want to donate their body or organs to science or other people. There are certain religions that do not approve of one of their people donating anything, including their body or organs, even after death. The Shinto religion is one of those religions. The Shinto’s believe that once a body becomes lifeless, it becomes dangerous and impure. They believe that donating a dead body can have a negative effect on the body of the recipient’s. They believe that something bad could happen to the dead person’s soul also, not just the person receiving help from the donator, but also the donator their self. Every person in the Shinto religion do not donate their body in case of impurity or that something bad may happen to several people. However there are some religions that approve of whole body donations. The religions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, and almost all of the Christian denominations approve of whole body donations and also think highly of it.

There are some types of organ donations that can be donated while you are still living. A single lung, certain section of your liver, your pancreas, intestines, or even a kidney may be donated to someone or something while you are still alive. These really only happens in case of an emergency. People might only donate one of these parts of his or her body to a loved one who may die soon if they do not get that transplant. Before a doctor removes one of your organs from your body, they first check to make sure they are still in good condition and that you will be fine without it. A lot of people are worried about getting huge, noticeable scars on the area they have received a transplant or an organ donation. A person may also be worried about their other organs and if those organs are okay.

All bodies must be checked before being donated to science. They are checked for syphilis, HIV, tuberculosis, and other severely infectious diseases. The body must also be in a very good condition and not be in bad shape. The person who has donated their body to science must not have had a bad body weight (obese or underweight) or be decomposed even just a little bit. A body involved in a death that may be unknown or that needs further investigation will not be able to be donated to science. That body will then have to be criminally investigated.

A lot of people believe that donating their body to science will give their family money, be that is not always true. There is often some fee’s that apply to donating your body. Donating your body to science will save you money however. The fee’s for shipping and other things is usually around $100, which is a lot less than your typical funeral and burying. But there are some cases in which the fee’s of donating a body may cost much more than the funeral services and the burial or cremation may cost. Donated bodies help teach students in anatomy classes in college so they can afterwards perform on a real, living person. The donated bodies are also used for new ideas and research in the medical field. Donating a whole body to science can also save several lives, as well as improve medical care and improve surgeries too. If your body is accepted, then you and your family will not have to worry about funeral costs and burials.

If you decide that you do want to donate your body to science, you will have to go through a series of steps. First you will have to choose a particular reasoning or cause. You may donate your body for several researches including mental illnesses, skin diseases, cancer, etc. you must make sure you are going to donate your body to the right place if you want it to be donated for a certain cause. Then you may choose whether you want your body to be performed on by students in the medical field or actual lab researchers. If you are unsure or do not care about what to do with your body, you may leave that decision up to your family. Secondly, you will want to get contact with a medical school somehow. If you want for your body to be donated to a medical school then you must ask them about the procedures. If they do not accept private donations then you must find a school that does. You will then want to ask about their body donations and how you can get your body sent and donated there after you have died. Thirdly, you should become in contact with a research lab. You may either choose to donate your body to a research lab or a medical school. If you want to donate your body to a research lab then you should ask them about body donations and the process after you die. The fourth step is to let your family know what you really want and your reasons for it. If you want to donate your body, talk to your family about it and tell them exactly why you want to do it, even if they do not want you to. If your family tries to change your mind to get you to have a traditional burial instead of donating your body, then you must put in your will what you want. In your will, you should also include the place you wish to donate your body too and the contact information. If your family absolutely will not agree with donating your body, you should have someone who will agree with you that will defend your reasoning after you die. That way your body will still be donated, no matter what your family says. If you inform more people about what you want, then you will have a better chance to get what you want for your body even after death. The fifth and final step is to make sure you have a back-up plan in case something happens. You may not know if your body will be accepted or if it meets the specific criteria to be able to be donated. For example, your body may be in very bad condition depending on how you die and then you cannot donate it to science or study. If something like this happens and you are unable to fulfill your wish, you need a back-up plan. You should put your back-up plan in your will. Within this part of your will you will need to state if you want to be cremated buried or something else, and explain where at and the important details of the matter. You want to make sure you and your family are prepared for whatever happens.

Donating your body after you die is completely your own decision. I have provided information that will hopefully help you in deciding whether you want to donate your body to science, a school to help future doctors and surgeons learn, or neither. Donating your body can help other people live on when they are in need of certain organs that your dead body may provide for them. Donating your body may also help in teaching the future doctors and surgeons so that they will know how to perform on a real, living person when the time comes. It is also much cheaper to donate your body rather than having a traditional funeral and burial. Although some religious beliefs do not agree with a person donating their body to anything, there are some that do. You may have problems with your family when you talk to them about donating your body. There are also several steps you will have to go through before you donate your body.

Review over Stiff

The book Stiff helped me a lot in completing my research essay over whether or not someone should donate his or her body to science. After reading the book, I had obtained more information than just looking on websites. I found out that there are several things that a person will have to do to a body before they can perform on it. I have also found out that there are many different places you can donate your body to. You do not have only one option in donating your body. You can donate your body to a medical college to help teach future surgeons and doctors practice on a body before they have to perform on a real living person.

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I thought the book Stiff was somewhat interesting for the most part. There were some parts of the book that were boring and I did not want to read. It was very informative. I learned a lot from it. I also gathered a lot of information to write this essay by reading that book. The book, in my opinion, was too long. There were a few chapters I thought were interesting. I thought it was a good book to read. It is also a great book to get information from.

 

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