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Death: Beyond Whole-Brain Criteria

  • Book
  • © 1988

Overview

Editors:
  1. Richard M. Zaner

    1. Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA

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Part of the book series: Philosophy and Medicine (PHME, volume 31)

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Table of contents (14 chapters)

  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

  7. Back Matter

    Pages 267-278
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Keywords

About this book

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.

Editors and Affiliations

  • Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA

    Richard M. Zaner

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Death: Beyond Whole-Brain Criteria

  • Editors: Richard M. Zaner

  • Series Title: Philosophy and Medicine

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2707-0

  • Publisher: Springer Dordrecht

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

  • Copyright Information: Kluwer Academic Publishers 1988

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-55608-053-1Published: 31 May 1988

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-94-010-7720-0Published: 26 September 2011

  • eBook ISBN: 978-94-009-2707-0Published: 06 December 2012

  • Series ISSN: 0376-7418

  • Series E-ISSN: 2215-0080

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: X, 278

  • Topics: Philosophy of Medicine, Medical Law, Theory of Medicine/Bioethics

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