| Popis: |
Beliefs and ethical judgements about practices involving uses of deceased bodies and body parts, the selection of the donor and his death, and the selection of recipients for organs or prosthetics were obtained by interview from 76 and by questionnaire from 229 graduate students in public health, queried prior to November, 1967. The majority hold ethical positions consonant with current practices and tend to be cautious regarding changes. Ethical judgements appear unrelated to age, sex, education, religious or professional identification; physicians and nurses (45 per cent of sample) do not differ in position from other professionals. Religiously based beliefs about the presence of a human soul, the sanctity of deceased bodies and the definition and value of a human life are found to be significantly associated with ethical positions, but with considerable individual variation. A position of “situational ethics” seems to maintain. |
