The definition of death : contemporary controversies / edited by Stuart J. Youngner, Robert M. Arnold, and Renie Schapiro.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Youngner, Stuart J.

Arnold, Robert M., 1957-

Schapiro, Renie.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Death--Proof and certification.

Death.

Brain death.

Physical Description:

xx, 346 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999.

Summary:

In the 1980s, following the recommendation of a presidential commission, all fifty states replaced previous cardiopulmonary definitions of death with one that also included total and irreversible cessation of brain function. The Definition of Death: Contemporary Controversies is the first comprehensive review of the clinical, philosophical, and public policy implications of our effort to redefine the change in status from living person to corpse. Edited by Stuart J. Youngner, Robert M. Arnold, and Renie Schapiro, the book is the result of a collaboration among internationally recognized scholars from the fields of medicine, philosophy, social science, law, and religious studies. Throughout, the contributors struggle to reconcile inconsistencies and gaps in our traditional understanding of death and to respond to the public's concern that, in the determination of death under current policies, patients' interests may be compromised by the demand for organ retrieval. Their questions about the philosophical and scientific bases for determining death lead, inevitably, to more profound questions of social policy. Acknowledging that the definition of death is as much a social construct as a scientific one, the authors, in their analysis of these issues, provide a comprehensive and provocative source of information for students and scholars alike.

Contents:

I The Historical and Clinical Framework 1

1 Brain Death in a Cultural Context: The Reconstruction of Death, 1967-1981 / Martin S. Pernick 3

2 Clinical Standards and Technological Confirmatory Tests in Diagnosing Brain Death / Fred Plum 34

II The Interface between Philosophy and the Clinic 67

3 How Much of the Brain Must Be Dead? / Baruch A. Brody 71

4 Refinements in the Definition and Criterion of Death / James L. Bernat 83

5 On the Brainstem Criterion of Death / Chris Pallis 93

6 The Persisting Perplexities in the Determination of Death / Joanne Lynn, Ronald Cranford 101

III Revisiting Statutes on Brain Death 115

7 The Bifurcated Legal Standard for Determining Death: Does It Work? / Alexander Morgan Capron 117

8 The Conscience Clause: How Much Individual Choice in Defining Death Can Our Society Tolerate? / Robert M. Veatch 137

9 The Unimportance of Death / Norman Fost 161

IV Public Attitudes about Brain Death in the United States 179

10 American Attitudes and Beliefs about Brain Death: The Empirical Literature / Laura A. Siminoff, Alexia Bloch 183

11 Fundamentals of Life and Death: Christian Fundamentalism and Medical Science / Courtney S. Campbell 194

12 The Definition of Death in Jewish Law / Fred Rosner 210

V International Perspectives 223

13 Brain Death, Ethics, and Politics in Denmark / Bo Andreassen Rix 227

14 The Problem of Brain Death: Japanese Disputes about Bodies and Modernity / Margaret Lock 239

15 Defining Death in Germany: Brain Death and Its Discontents / Bettina Schone-Seifert 257

VI Public Policy Considerations 273

16 Dusk, Dawn, and Defining Death: Legal Classifications and Biological Categories / R. Alta Charo 277

17 The Role of the Public in Public Policy on the Definition of Death / Dan W. Brock 293

VII The Future of Death 309

18 Death in a Technological and Pluralistic Culture / Steven Miles 311

19 Redefining Death: The Mirage of Consensus / H. Tristram Engelhardt Jr. 319.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0801859859

OCLC:

39069362