A Defense of the Whole-Brain Concept of Death

The concept of whole-brain death is under attack again. Scholars are arguing that the concept of brain death per se—regardless of the focus on “higher,” “stem” or “whole”—is fundamentally flawed. These scholars have identified what they believe are serious discrepancies between the definition and cr...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Bernat, James L. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Interlibrary Loan:Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany)
Published: 1998
In: The Hastings Center report
Year: 1998, Volume: 28, Issue: 2, Pages: 14-23
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
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Summary:The concept of whole-brain death is under attack again. Scholars are arguing that the concept of brain death per se—regardless of the focus on “higher,” “stem” or “whole”—is fundamentally flawed. These scholars have identified what they believe are serious discrepancies between the definition and criterion of brain death, and have pointed out that medical professionals and lay persons remain confused about its meaning. Yet whole-brain death remains the standard for determining death in much of the Western world and its defenders believe this concept best maps onto our everyday conception of death.
ISSN:1552-146X
Contains:Enthalten in: Hastings Center, The Hastings Center report
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.2307/3527567