© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press, on behalf of the Journal of Medicine and Philosophy Inc. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com Whole-Body/Head Transplantation: Personal Identity, Experimental Surgery, and Bioethics MARK J. CHERRY* St. Edward’s University, Austin, Texas, USA RUIPING FAN City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR *Address correspondence to: Mark J. Cherry, PhD, Department of Philosophy, St. Edward’s University, 3001 S. Congress Avenue, Austin, TX 78701, USA. E-mail: markc@stedwards.edu. This issue of The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy brings together an international group of scholars from Hong Kong, Mainland China, and North America, critically to explore whole- body/head transplantation. The proposed procedure raises sig- nificant philosophical, ethical, and social/political questions. For example, assuming transplant is successful, who survives the surgery? Does personal identity necessarily follow the head? The contributors to this special thematic issue explore the nature and ground of personal identity, what it would mean to preserve per- sonal identity, given such a significant set of physical changes, as well as the morality of such a procedure. As the authors make clear, careful conceptual philosophical analysis is essential for under- standing whether whole-body/head transplantation is a life-saving/ life-enhancing technological innovation, or a bioethical morass that should not be attempted. How we come to terms with such conceptual and moral concerns will have a significant impact on the future of medicine and medical technological innovation. Keywords: head transplantation, personal identity, research ethics, whole-body transplantation I. INTRODUCTION Suppose surgeons were able to transplant the head, brain and all, from one person onto a body secured from a donor who has been declared dead, presumably using neurological criteria, whose head has been removed? Dr. Sergio Canavero and surgeon Dr. Xiaoping Ren have been collaborating to The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, 47: 179–188, 2022 https://doi.org/10.1093/jmp/jhab046 Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jmp/article/47/2/179/6583631 by guest on 29 June 2023