Abstract
Abstract In the debates on post-mortal organ donation German protestant churches fundamentally argue in favour of the motif of Christian charity: To donate organs after death must be a voluntary act of giving. Any duties to do so are incompatible with this motif. In principle Christian charity focuses on a concrete other, whose specific needs in a given situation are apparent. Against this backdrop the article argues, that charity is an insufficient motif in these debates, since anonymous post-mortal organ donation structurally deals with a generalised other. Therefore, it seems more appropriate to understand organ donation as an expression of the individual’s orientation towards the common weal and as a matter of responsibility for the whole of society. Indeed: there is no individual duty to donate organs after death, but a demand for personal reasoning and public participation in a crucial social and political question, that seems well in line with the concept of Public Protestantism.
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