Unpacking Robert Spaemann’s Philosophical Contribution to the Brain DeathDebate

摘要

Questions of life and death are primarily philosophical questions, as philosopher RobertSpaemann argues. Spaemann argues that “brain death” is philosophically unsatisfactory as adefinition of death, and as the exclusive criterion for determining death, for two mainreasons: first, because it attempts to annul the basic perceptions of the ordinary personin regard to death. Second, because the cause of life and unity in a living being cannotbe reduced to the brain. This essay is an explication of Spaemann’s contribution to the“brain death” question, which consists in illuminating the philosophical issues atstake.