Abstract
The concept of life includes something more than biological elements. What is this "something"? To think of this problem, this study points out at first that both bioehtics that high-developed medical technology is inextricably bound up with, and the arguments that are critical of "life commercialization" do not give a clear definition of the whole concept of life. "Life" is indicated only as the negative "blank" which is the opposite of that what is being justified or criticised. Secondly, from a historical point of view, it is clear that the statement that the background of modern medicine constitutes of Cartesianism, is only partly true. Modern medicine rather has its own characteristic view of life-a view of life, that bioethics seem to ignore, while creating the conditions for the realization of a new concept of life. Thirdly, this study argues that the new concept of life is based on "an exchange of death for life", which stands for the acquisition of "life" in return for a death. The medium required for this exchange could be the concept of life. (179 words)
