What Does a Definition of Death Do?

• Authors: Specker Sullivan Laura
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

In his article, “Defining Death: Beyond Biology,” John Lizza argues in favor of a civil definition of death, according to which the potential for consciousness and social interaction marks us as the “kind of being that we are.” In this commentary, I critically discuss this approach to the bioethical debate on the definition of death. I question whether Lizza’s account is based on a full recognition of the “practical, moral, religious, philosophical, and cultural considerations” at play in this debate. I further propose that a truly ethical debate on definitions of death ought to concentrate on how different definitions of death are used in diverse contexts – what definitions of death do – and focus less on who has the right definition of death for all situations.

Keywords

EN

brain death; culture; definition of death

• Publisher: Instytut Filozofii - Uniwersytet Jagielloński
• Journal: Diametros
• Year: 2018
• Issue: 55
• Pages: 63-67

Dates

published

2018-03

Contributors

author

Specker Sullivan Laura

• Harvard Medical School

References

• Chiong W. (2005), “Brain Death Without Definitions,” Hastings Center Report 35 (6): 25–30.
• Elliott C. (1999), A Philosophical Disease: Bioethics, Culture, and Identity, Routledge, New York.
• Lizza J.P. (2018), “Defining Death: Beyond Biology,” Diametros 55: 1–19.
• Lock M. (2002), Twice Dead: Organ Transplants and the Reinvention of Death, University of California Press, Berkeley.
• McMahan J. (2006), “An Alternative to Brain Death,” Journal of Law, Medicine, and Ethics 34 (1): 44–48.
• Truog R., Miller F. (2014), “Changing the Conversation about Brain Death,” The American Journal of Bioethics 14 (8): 9–14.
• Truog R. (2006), “Brain Death – Too Flawed to Endure, to Ingrained to Abandon,” Journal of Law, Medicine, and Ethics 35 (2): 273–281.

Notes

EN

Special Topic – Defining Death: Beyond Biology

PL

Temat specjalny – Definiując śmierć: poza biologią

Identifiers

DOI

10.13153/diam.1176