The Law of Cryonics: A Legal Philosophical and Financial Analysis

This book, through the lens of interdisciplinary legal analysis, draws a subtle balance between bioethics and financial regulation, with the latter playing an unexpectedly crucial role in the way life may potentially be governed. The legal topic of human preservation or cryo-conservation was initially developed in the USA in the case of Donaldson v van de Kamp. More recently, the subject arose in Europe as a result of a decisum of the High Court, Family Division, in London. This new theme of cryo-conservation has unfolded through multifaceted forms, including its impact on regulation. In an area that may, at least prima facie, be regarded as belonging to the traditional realm of medical law, the findings presented here suggest that its potential has strong economic implications. The work argues that it is necessary also to look at this subject from a more interdisciplinary perspective, drawing a fil rouge between two otherwise seemingly opposing areas of law: medical law and financial regulation.

The legal framework draws on the Anglo-American, and the UK in particular, along with civil law analysis from Italy. The work will be of interest to researchers and academics in the areas of medical law, legal philosophy, financial law, property law and insurance law.

table of content

1. Introduction: the Fashionable and Freezing World of Cryonics

2. Human Cryopreservation

3. The Junk Side of Cryonics: the Homo Sacer

4. Cryothanasia as an Opportunity during a Scarcity of Medical Resources

5. From Digital Immortality to Human Immortality

Conclusions