The metaphysics of brain death

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Philosophy of Mind
• Bioethics

Background:

• The prevailing concept of brain death as whole-brain death presents a conflict.
• It attempts to reconcile the irreversible loss of consciousness with the cessation of integrated organismic function.
• This dual perspective creates an unstable definition of death.

Purpose of the Study:

• To critique the unified criterion for brain death.
• To propose that the concepts of 'person' and 'human organism' require separate criteria for death.
• To explore the implications of this distinction for understanding existence and moral problems.

Main Methods:

• Philosophical argumentation.
• Conceptual analysis.
• Examination of the mind-body problem.

Main Results:

• No single criterion adequately captures both the loss of consciousness and the loss of integrated organismic function.
• The 'person' and the 'human organism' are distinct entities with different criteria for death.
• A dualistic approach (mind-body dualism) is necessary for a coherent understanding of death and existence.

Conclusions:

• Rethinking brain death requires acknowledging the distinction between personhood and organismic life.
• Separate accounts of death for persons and human organisms are needed.
• This distinction offers a more plausible framework for addressing existential and ethical questions.