Abstract

MAYORGA MADRIGAL, Alberto Cuauthémoc  and  AYALA CASTILLO, Dalila. Reasons to Define Death and its Criticism. rev.latinoam.bioet. [online]. 2021, vol.21, n.1, pp.61-76.  Epub July 23, 2021. ISSN 1657-4702.  https://doi.org/10.18359/rlbi.5018.

Over fifty years from Harvard's report, the redefinition proposed for death still poses problems and has not reached international consensus. The possibility to transplant vital organs and the progress of artificial support to maintain some substantive functions raised the need to redefine the notion of death. Proposing new definitions also gives place to new ethical and technical questions. In this context we present some of the main reasons and criticism to the intention to define death as encephalic death. For such reasons we analyze some of the criticism made on this point by Hans Jonas, as well as challenges to his position. On the other hand, we present some of the criteria diagnostic tests are based on, and the lack of consensus in this regard. With his analysis we aim at showing that the different viewpoints to define death, despite not reaching agreement among different communities, require continued analysis and debate in order to give supported attention to the factors motivating the redefinition of death.

Keywords : death; encephalic death; life; ethics; diagnostics.

        · abstract in Spanish | Portuguese     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )