Robert Veatch argues that the death of a person should be equated with the irreversible destruction of the cerebral cortex. This position is here questioned on grounds of tutiorism as well as on the basis of its philosophical assumptions. It is agrued that whole-brain death as an account of personal death is not open to these objections, and is a conception that can satisfy tutiorist standards of safety. The role of the EEG as an indicator of death is discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
KoreinJ., The Problem of Brain Death: Development and History, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 315, pp. 19–38, 1978.
2.
IngvarD. H.BrunA.JohanssonL.SamuelssonS. M., Survival After Severe Cerebral Anoxia with Destruction of the Cerebral Cortex: The Apallic Syndrome, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 315, pp. 184–208, 1978.
3.
VeatchR. M., The Whole-Brain-Oriented Concept of Death: An Outmoded Philosophical Formulation, Journal of Thanatology, 3, pp. 13–30, 1975.