Posthumous interests
legal and ethical perspectives
- ISBN: 9780521187664
- Editorial: Cambridge University Press
- Fecha de la edición: 2008
- Lugar de la edición: Cambridge. Reino Unido
- Colección: Law, Medicine and Ethics
- Encuadernación: Rústica
- Medidas: 22 cm
- Nº Pág.: 268
- Idiomas: Inglés
Daniel Sperling discusses the legal status of posthumous interests and their possible defeat by actions performed following the death of a person. The author first explores the following questions: Do the dead have interests and/or rights, the defeat of which may constitute harm? What does posthumous harm consist of and when does it occur, if at all? This is followed by a more detailed analysis of three categories of posthumous interests arising in the medico-legal context: the proprietary interest in the body of the deceased, the testamentary interest in determining the disposal of one's body after death and the interest in post-mortem medical confidentiality. Sperling concludes that if we acknowledge the interest in one's symbolic existence and legally protect it, not only do some interests survive a person's death but we should also enjoy a peremptory legal power to shape in advance our symbolic existence after death.
