Definition Argument Essay Assignment Literature & Language Essay

Definition Argument Essay
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Should a person who sells an organ for money be considered a donor? What are the standards for an act to be considered a donation?
Introduction
The concept of ‘paid donation’ of organs has always been a controversial area of debate. People and organizations keep diverse opinions about this phenomenon. The practice of selling organs encompasses different legal and illegal dimensions that have been uncovered in the studies conducted worldwide. From a few perspectives, a person selling the organs remains a seller, while others are not reluctant to categorize him as a donor depending on the ethical stance to which each school of thought belongs. For instance, an article available from Forbes titled as “Let people sell their organs” focuses on the benefits of allowing the people to sell their organs. The point of greater concern is that the article terms the people who sell their organs as “donors” despite it being contradictory to regulatory stance. The author goes on to argue that people should be encouraged to sell their organs and be treated as donors (Hall, 2015). A deep investigation into the characteristics reveals that a person who is getting paid for selling his organs cannot be regarded as a donor, because he fails to meet the characteristics of donation mainly including voluntariness, moral drive, and selflessness.
Setting the Criteria
In general terms, donation refers to an act of giving something possessed by a person away as a voluntary contribution. This can be a contribution to a charity or for any other purpose that is beyond the self-interest (Shacham et al., 2018). While seen from this purpose, a donation appears to be a three-pronged concept involving three major characteristics including voluntariness, moral drive and selflessness. Different ways are present when it comes to donation, including forced and by the will of an individual. It is central that the donor should have the liberty to donate a particular organ of the body and it must not be carried out through deliberation. Moreover, it is important that the person who donates something is not tricked into a donation. He does so after his will. If a person, who makes a donation when forced by someone or something, he cannot justifiably be regarded as a donor. Usually, there is a moral drive behind donations as the donor is concerned about escaping a deprived human from the clinical issue and allowing him to live like a healthy person. People do so for the satisfaction of their conscience. The smile that they can bring on someone’s face by making a donation can be behind their urge to donate. The roots of the moral drive can lie in religion or any other theoretical stance in support of the charity. It is essential for a donor not to seek self-interest in exchange for a donation (Gaikwad, 2018). When donations are incentivized, they are no longer a donation. Instead, they become business transactions. Therefore, it is important for donations not to associate tangible incentives through moral incentives do not apply in this context. There are several activities that can be referred to as ‘donations’ for their ability to meet the criteria aforementioned. For example, philanthropy is indisputably a donation because it is out of the moral drive and based on selflessness. Similarly, donating blood to an at-risk patient is a donation because it is based on a strong moral drive stemming from the urge of saving a life. However, if a blood donor demands money in exchange for blood, it will be in closer proximity to a business deal. By the same token, spending time in some activity of social welfare can be categorized as a donation because a person is donating the time that he could have spent for some personal cause.
Applying the Criteria to Given Category
After determining the criteria, it is important to see as to how the argument presented in the case is in line with the key characteristics of donation. Firstly, the case is scanned for the application of voluntariness. When seen superficially, donating for money can be regarded as a voluntary act because no one is forcing the donor to sell his organs (and he does so out of his own will) (Hall, 2015). However, voluntariness is the missing element when it comes to the socio-economic background of the donor and the compulsions that drive him for donation. As the author admits herself, a poor ‘donor’ may do so because he is in the need of the money, and values money more than his organs (Hall, 2015). This argument rules out the element of voluntary urge because the person who sells his organs is doing so under compulsion. Therefore, paid donation remains short of satisfying this criterion.
As for the moral drive, it is considered and found to be the soul of donation in most of the examples provided earlier. In the article/case, ther...