Richard A. Epstein’s Thinking the Unthinkable Organ...

Richard A. Epstein’s Thinking the Unthinkable: Organ Sales Richard A. Epstein’s â€Å"Thinking the Unthinkable: Organ Sales† (2005) is an argument trying to convince people that selling human organs is acceptable in order to increase the availability for those in need of an organ transplant. Epstein says money will motivate more people to donate their organs to those in need. He also looks at the argument from the point of the recipient of the organ and argues that the expense of buying an organ will not increase the price of getting an organ transplant. Obviously, people who are rich already have an easier time getting an organ transplant. The rich can more easily afford the costs; the poor will not have any more of a cost†¦show more content†¦The reason for the shortage is many people do not donate. This shortage keeps people from getting the essential organs needed to save their lives. He says we must help out our fellow humans by selling much needed organs to those who cannot live without them. Few people wou ld disagree with the fact that it is morally right to help save another’s life. Donating organs is a selfless act that can save another person’s life; Epstein wants to put less emphasis on donating organs as a selfless act and more emphasis receiving a reward for helping out another person. If a person is being compensated for the organ they are giving, then they are not actually donating it to someone else. The person is not making a sacrifice to help someone who is suffering. If the person who provides the organ receives money for the organ, that person is not showing compassion to the dying patient and the patient’s family. In many cases, the organ failure is not the patient’s fault, so why should the patient have to pay for an organ, especially if the donor is already dead and the organ will just be left to decay. The patient does not need any other costs; they already have enormous costs in order to be in the hospital and have the transplant s urgery. The average cost of a transplant is already extremely high without the added cost of the actual organ. The average cost for the entire procedure of an organ transplant in 2002 could cost anywhere