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  3. Philosophical, Medical, and Legal Controversies About Brain Death
  • Cited by 8
Publisher:
Cambridge University Press
Online publication date:
February 2024
Print publication year:
2024
Online ISBN:
9781009323352
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009323352
Series:
Elements in Bioethics and Neuroethics
Subjects:
Developmental Psychology, Ethics, Psychology, Cognition
Information

Book description

This Element considers current legal, ethical, metaphysical, and medical controversies concerning brain death. It examines the implicit metaphysical and moral commitments and dualism implied by neurological criteria for death. When these commitments and worldview are not shared by patients and surrogates, they give rise to distrust in healthcare providers and systems, and to injustice, particularly when medicolegal definitions of death are coercively imposed on those who reject them. Ethical obligations to respect persons and patient autonomy, promote patient-centered care, foster and maintain trust, and respond to the demands of justice provide compelling ethical reasons for recognizing reasonable objections. Each section illustrates how seemingly academic debates about brain death have real, on-the-ground implications for patients and their families.

References

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