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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Dying to Save Lives: Zell Kravinsky, Peter Singer, and Lethal Organ Donation

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In 2003, after disbursing the bulk of his accumulated fortune of forty-five million dollars to various charities, Zell Kravinsky made the even greater altruistic decision to donate one of his kidneys to a complete stranger. In doing so he incurred the wrath of many in the psychiatric and health professions who questioned his sanity. In response, Kravinsky argued that refusal to donate would have constituted a violation of his belief in “maximum human utility” – a philosophical concept that insists we give up as much as we can for the good of others. Kravinsky has since stated that he would undergo a lethal organ donation in order to save a greater number of people from death, or to save people who might better serve humanity. He has even gone so far as to suggest he would sacrifice the lives of his children to save a greater number of others. Only one prominent utilitarian philosopher, Peter Singer, has come to Kravinsky’s defense suggesting that maximum human utility’s moral principles are entirely sound. This paper examines utilitarian valuations of the common good through the principles that underpin Kravinsky’s beliefs.