DEATH, BRAIN DEATH, AND

PERSISTENT VEGETATIVE STATE

Jeff McMahan

THE CONCEPT OF BRAIN

AND DEATH
o If the person had stopped
breathing and had no heartbeat, he
was considered dead.
o Invention of Mechanical Ventilation
-During the Twentieth Century
- Oxygen forced in and out of lungs for
people who are unable to breathe (even
if unconscious)
- A growing demand for people who can
benefit from mechanically ventilated but
unconscious ones

THE CONCEPT OF BRAIN AND DEATH

o A debate was prompted on how to
determine if a person is dead and
could thus be removed from lifesupporting systems

THE CONCEPT OF BRAIN AND DEATH

CONCEPT OF BRAIN DEATH
- Irreversible cessation of functioning in
the brain as a WHOLE
o This indicates if the person appears to be
alive but tested positive for brain death,
he could be declared as dead

- Some parts of the brain are already

dead, while others are still functioning
- Criterion of Death

THE CONCEPT OF BRAIN AND DEATH

CONCEPT OF DEATH
- Sometimes death refers to a biological
event (a), but sometimes it refers to
the ceasing to exist of a person (b).
- The concept of unicellular organisms
(eg. Amoebas)
- Amoebas after binary fission cease to exist
without dying
- Corpses show that living things can die
biologically, without ceasing to exist

THE CONCEPT OF BRAIN AND DEATH

- The biblical concept of Jesus
regarding death
o People who believed in him will never
cease to exist (even if we will cease
biologically)
o Many people believe that we are nonphysical souls

The concepts of death and

of the ceasing to exist of a
living entity are distinct,
though overlapping.
(McMahan, 2007 )

CRITIQUE
OF
BRAIN
DEATH
The Critique of Brain Death
CRITIQUE OF BRAIN DEATH
- One compelling criterion of death is brain
death, since it captured two dimensions:
a. Ceasing to exist
. Brain is the seat of consciousness
. Once brain is no longer possible,
consciousness is no longer possible
b. Biological Death
. There can no longer be integrated functions
once brain as a whole is dead

CRITIQUE OF BRAIN DEATH

o Others contradict the 2 dimensions
of brain death since consciousness
and other somatic functions are not
concentrated in one region of the
brain only
o There are some cases that brain stem
can still be functional which can control
other parts of the body without the brain
hemispheres (Persistent Vegetative
State)

CRITIQUE OF BRAIN DEATH

o A pregnant woman has been
diagnosed as brain dead, but her body
has been kept systematically functional
for a number of months to enable the
fetus to develop and later be delivered
alive. (Singer, 1994)
o How much of the integration of somatic
functions has to be done by the brain for
the organism to count as alive?

CRITIQUE OF BRAIN DEATH

o Consciousness is considered to be
the final brain function
o As long as this is generated by the
brain, the person is not dead despite of
the cessation of his somatic functions

CRITIQUE OF BRAIN DEATH

o Other arguments say that brain
death is not the proper criterion of
death
o Instead, higher brain criterion should
be considered (CORTICAL DEATH)
o Cortical death death of cerebral cortex
(consciousness)
o Not widely accepted, since it considered
Vegetative State as ceasing to exist

PERSISTENT
VEGETATIVE
STATE
WHAT KIND OF ENTITY ARE WE?

PERSISTENT VEGETATIVE STATE

o Some have argued that the capacity
for consciousness is localized in the
upper part of brain
o The proper criterion of death is not brain
death, but a higher brain criterion,
such as the death of cerebral cortex
(Cortical Death)
o Cortical Death is not widely accepted,
since it implies that Persistent
Vegetative State is BIOLOGICALLY dead

THE CONCEPT OF BRAIN AND DEATH

o Having cerebral hemispheres
survived but not the brain stem
which never happens.
o Its always the brain stem that should
survive for the cerebral hemispheres to
live also.

THE CONCEPT OF BRAIN AND DEATH

The Human Entity

For Jeff McMahan:

- Humans undergoing the vegetative
state or ceases to be biologically
alive is only a moral interest. This is
so only if the biological death of a
human organism is to cease its
existence as a person.
- The death of a person is the death of
a human organism.

PERSISTENT
VEGETATIVE
STATE
The Human entity
Jeff McMahan believes:
- An person is a human with one brain
and one mind. A human that is capable
of experiencing and thinking with the
state of consciousness present.
- An human organism is a human being
with one of each part.
- A person, just like how religion describes
it, couldnt possibly be an organism.

PERSISTENT
VEGETATIVE
STATE
The Human Entity
Jeff McMahan explained that the
vegetative state is when a person has
died before its biological death. This
results to being in a vegetative state
or, as some would call it, the state of
being brain dead. It was described and
related to how religious groups would
say that a body has a soul and that the
soul may depart (leaving the person to
cease to exist) even if the body is still

PERSISTENT
VEGETATIVE
STATE
The Human Entity
For McMahan, to exist is to have
consciousness and to have a subject of
experiences. If these 2 are present in
an organism, then there is still a
person inside of it. We are alive
because we are at the state of
consciousness and awareness and if
we lose it, then we cease to exist.

PERSISTENT
VEGETATIVE
STATE
The Human Entity
Jeff clearly stated that Despite being
declared Brain dead, at the present
age, it could not be a full declaration
due to the lack of technology to
examine patience diagnosed with such
case. This means that it can still be
ruled as lawfully and morally wrong to
end a life in a vegetative state. This
could still be ruled as murder.