On the subject of death determination in the bioethical debate

Abstract: With the emergence of the biological sciences, the concept of certain signs of death has become increasingly important. Since 1968 the brain death criterion has become a standard for death determination. The emergence of a new death criterion may require an adjusted concept of death. We analyze the concept of death to provide a solid rationale. Brain death indicates human death. Discussions about brain death highlight the complexity of death and the various neurobiological and philosophical factors to be taken into account. Brain death is not based on a dualistic conception of the human being, but on an integral image of man as a soul-body unit centered on itself, a totality, in which the brain plays an inalienable role. This philosophical argumentation, which safeguards the unity of the human being, overcomes the insurmountable dissociation between soul and body that Cartesian philosophy has left as inheritance. Therefore, brain death is a valid scientific-medical criterion to establish organismal life end and effectively supports a compatible moral theory as a framework for admissible clinical practices and for public policies regarding when to declare death

Object Details

• Location: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Extent: Online-Ressource
• Language: Englisch
• Notes: Universität Freiburg, Dissertation, 2019

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Philosophie
• Keyword: Death--Proof and certification

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (where): Freiburg
• (who): Universität
• (when): 2020
• Creator: Götte, Sergio
• Contributor: Schockenhoff, Eberhard ; Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg. Theologische Fakultät

Further information

• DOI: 10.6094/UNIFR/165922
• URN: urn:nbn:de:bsz:25-freidok-1659228
• Rights: Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Last update: 14.08.2025, 10:44 AM CEST