Death: Beyond Whole-Brain Criteria

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-ix

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2. Introduction

   1. Introduction

      • Richard M. Zaner

      Pages 1-14

3. Historical and Conceptual Foundations

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 15-15

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   2. Back from the Grave: Recurring Controversies over Defining and Diagnosing Death in History

      • Martin S. Pernick

      Pages 17-74

   3. Does Anyone Survive Neocortical Death?

      • Roland Puccetti

      Pages 75-90

   4. Reexamining the Definition of Death and Becoming Clearer about What It is to be Alive

      • H. Tristram Engelhardt Jr.

      Pages 91-98

4. Beyond Whole-Brain Criteria of Death: Legal Considerations

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 99-99

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   2. Should the Law Define Death? — A Genuine Question

      • Patricia D. White

      Pages 101-109

   3. Legal Issues Leading to the Notion of Neocortical Death

      • David Randolph Smith

      Pages 111-144

5. The President’s Commission and Beyond

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 145-145

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   2. The Report of the President’s Commission on the Uniform Determination of Death ACT

      • Alexander Morgan Capron

      Pages 147-170

   3. Whole-Brain, Neocortical, and Higher Brain Related Concepts

      • Robert M. Veatch

      Pages 171-186

   4. Brains and Persons: A Critique of Veatch’s View

      • Richard M. Zaner

      Pages 187-197

   5. Human Death and the Destruction of the Neocortex

      • Edward T. Bartlett, Stuart J. Youngner

      Pages 199-216

6. The Cultural Context

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 217-217

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   2. Beyond a Whole-Brain Definition of Death: Reconsidering the Metaphysics of Death

      • Marx W. Wartofsky

      Pages 219-228

   3. The Many Times of Death

      • Charles E. Scott

      Pages 229-231

   4. The Element of Choice in Criteria of Death

      • John Lachs

      Pages 233-251

   5. Person Perception and the Death of the Person: A New Role for Health Professionals in Cases of Brain Death

      • Stuart F. Spicker

      Pages 253-265

7. Back Matter

   Pages 267-278

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From the tone of the report by the President's Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Re­ search, one might conclude that the whole-brain-oriented definition of death is now firmly established as an enduring element of public policy. In that report, Defining Death: Medical, Legal and Ethical Issues in the Determination of Death, the President's Commission forwarded a uni­ form determination of death act, which laid heavy accent on the signifi­ cance of the brain stem in determining whether an individual is alive or dead: An individual who has sustained either (1) irreversible cessation of circulatory and respiratory functions, or (2) irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem, is dead. A determination of death must be made in accordance with accepted medical standards ([1], p. 2). The plausibility of these criteria is undermined as soon as one confronts the question of the level of treatment that ought to be provided to human bodies that have permanently lost consciousness but whose brain stems are still functioning.

• death
• ethical issues
• health
• issue
• metaphysics
• physics

• Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA

  Richard M. Zaner

Policies and ethics