Medical Mereology: Exploring the Role of Metaphysics for Secular Bioethics

In this issue of the Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, the authors explore the relationship between ethics and medical mereology, focusing on the role that metaphysics plays (and should play) within bioethical discourse. The essays explore what parts contribute to the integrated whole of a human organism in morally relevant ways. Such parts include transitory parts (like the zona pellucida or the placenta), artificial parts (like pacemakers and implantable devices), and even organisms (like bacteria and fungi) that make up the microbiome. Put into the language of, this issue examines what it means for a part—transitory, artificial, or living—to be “caught up in the life” of a human organism, an issue that requires public discourse to engage the metaphysical dimensions of medical ethics.