"Brain Death," Death, and Personal Identity

KronoScope ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 227-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Steineck
Keyword(s):  
Brain Death ◽  
Personal Identity ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Social Dimension ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Life And Death ◽  
The Social ◽  
Temporal Aspects ◽  
Whole Brain Death

AbstractThe issue of brain death touches directly on questions pertaining to our understanding of what it means to be human. Technological progress made possible the sustaining of signs of life in individuals who seem dead to the world. The concept of brain death was introduced to describe this phenomenon, and to answer some of the normative questions that were raised by it. In my article, I approach the problem of brain death with a focus on its temporal aspects. First I sketch out some general features of human life and death in terms of the theories of time of J. T. Fraser and G. Dux. Then I describe and analyze various definitions of brain death and criteria for its testing.The two most important variants are 'whole brain death' as the death of the organism, and 'cerebral death' as the death of the person. I discuss arguments in favor of, and against these concepts and analyze the framework and structuring of temporalities involved in each of them. I conclude that the extant theories in favor of 'brain death' are unsatisfactory, for factual and conceptual reasons. Most importantly, they neglect essential factors of personal identity. Because they employ a naturalistic concept of the human body, they fail to grasp its expressive quality and its function as a medium of communication. Furthermore, they fail to grasp the social dimension of personal identity. Because the concepts of 'brain death' as a criterion for the determination of death fail, we should regard brain-dead people as living human beings, and decide about their treatment accordingly.

scholarly journals The Physical, the Subjective, and the Social in the Debate on Personal Identity: A Critical and Historical Overview of Neo-Lockean Accounts

Bajo Palabra ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 21-45
Author(s):  
Alfonso Muñoz-Corcuera
Keyword(s):  
Personal Identity ◽  
Social Dimension ◽  
Historical Overview ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
The Social

There are, at least, three fundamentaldimensions in what we all are: a physical,a mental and a social dimension. In thispaper I will focus in how, in the historyof the debate about personal identity, different neo-Lockean theories have triedto account for these dimensions. Themain goal will be to show that the onlyneo-Lockean theory that can account forthese dimensions is what I call the NewNarrative Approach, that establishes adistinction between three entities thatwe are: human beings, selves, and persons.

scholarly journals The need of discoursing social theology in Muslim Southeast Asia

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Azhar Ibrahim
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Religious Commitment ◽  
Social Dimension ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Islamic Theology ◽  
Community Of Faith ◽  
Rapid Social Change ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Message ◽  
Human Enterprise

This paper highlights and evaluates the significance of an emerging social theologicaldiscourse in contemporary Muslim Southeast Asia. It emerged partlyas a response to the traditional Islamic theology inasmuch as the revivalistdakwah activism that became prominent since the 1970s. This emerging discourseis part of the continuity and extension of the reformist voices whichhave evolved since the late 19th century. As a theology, it puts discourse aboutGod as its premium but extend its focus on the social dimension of faith inGod, of the social message of the religion, and the social responsibility of theman and community of faith in God, and to their fellow human beings. Todaythere are several books and articles written which can be classified as belongingto this genre of social theology. In Indonesia this discursive theologycan be found in rational, humanistic, transformative cultural, and the oppressedtheologies. It opens a wider realm of participation and engagement,where theology is no longer the exclusive affairs of experts, but inclusive of thelay intellectuals who are not necessarily from a strictly religious background.It also enables the Muslim public to comprehend critically and to cope creativelywith rapid social change, and its attendant problems. Theology is, afterall, a human enterprise, albeit it’s strong religious commitment. To harnessthe potentiality of the social theology, calls for its recognition. Herein lies the need to start studying and engaging them discerningly, or to advance its criticaldimensions for the benefits of the larger Muslim public.Paper ini menyoroti dan mengevaluasi pentingnya wacana teologi sosial yangmuncul dalam periode kontemporer Muslim Asia Tenggara. Teologi sosialmuncul sebagian sebagai tanggapan terhadap teologi Islam tradisional karenaaktivisme dakwah revivalis yang semakin menonjol sejak tahun 1970-an. Wacanayang muncul di sini merupakan bagian dari kontinuitas dan perluasan suarareformis yang telah berkembang sejak akhir abad ke-19. Sebagai teologi, teologisocial menempatkan wacana utama tentang Tuhan tetapi memperluas fokusnyapada dimensi sosial iman kepada Allah, pesan sosial agama, dan tanggungjawab sosial dari komunitas iman kepada Allah, dan terhadap sesama manusia.Saat ini ada beberapa buku dan artikel yang ditulis yang dapat diklasifikasikansebagai milik genre teologi sosial. Di Indonesia teologi diskursif ini dapatditemukan dalam teologi-teologi rasional, humanistik, budaya transformatif,dan teologi kaum tertindas. Ini membuka sebuah dunia yang lebih luas bagipartisipasi dan keterlibatan, di mana teologi tidak lagi urusan eksklusif paraahli, tetapi termasuk para intelektual awam yang tidak harus berasal dari latarbelakang agama secara ketat. Hal ini juga memungkinkan masyarakat Muslimuntuk memahami secara kritis dan kreatif dalam mengatasi perubahan sosialyang cepat dan problem yang muncul. Di luar itu semua, teologi sosial adalahurusan manusia, dengan komitmen keagamaan yang kuat. Untuk memanfaatkanpotensi dari teologi sosial, diperlukan panggilan untuk pengakuan. Di sinilahletak kebutuhan untuk mulai mengkaji dan melibatkan teologi sosial, ataumengedepankan dimensi kritis dari teologi sosial agar bermanfaat lebih besarmasyarakat Muslim.

scholarly journals The social struggle against death: Human strategies for immortality

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (13-14) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marko Galić
Keyword(s):  
Human Life ◽  
Life Forms ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Biological Part ◽  
Knowing That ◽  
Social Struggle ◽  
The Social ◽  
To Come ◽  
The Mind ◽  
Human Death

Death is an infallible part of the human life, and what makes humandifferent from all other beings is fact that he knows that he isgoing to die. Knowing this, human beings are spending their wholelife knowing that the day of their end is going to come. It is clear thatdeath has its biological part, also as a huge event in the existenceof all life forms, including human, death has its philosophical pointof view, and finally, unlike some may disagree, death itself is a hugesocial phenomena as well, and as such, the social influence of deathdeserves close attention and its own part in the social science studies.This paper analyzes the presence of the death in human culture, includinginstitutions, rituals and beliefs following the discourse of lateZygmunt Bauman who left huge influence on this field of study. Sincethe earliest forms of communities, humans are trying to overcomethe death, the state of “after-life” and some form of immortality ofthe being is something that is common to all religions and beliefs everknown to mankind, which stands as a evidence that the final void ofnon-existence know to us as death is something that always presentedhorror in the mind of the humans.

Communities of Practice from a Phenomenological Stance

2012 ◽  
pp. 57-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giorgio De Michelis
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Information Systems ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Social Dimension ◽  
Utility Value ◽  
Philosophical Debate ◽  
Relevant Concept ◽  
The Social ◽  
Famous Book

Community (Gemeinschaft in German) has emerged as a relevant concept for understanding the social dimension of human life, at the end of nineteenth century, when in a famous book by Ferdinand Toennies (1925), it was opposed to society (Gesellschaft in German). The debate that accompanied and followed Toennies’ book at the beginning of the twentieth century opposed the irrationality of communities (where no utility value justifies membership) to the rational principle sustaining societies (that are ruled in order to balance costs and benefits of all members). More recently, the concept of community has been again at the center of philosophical debate after its deconstruction by Jean Luc Nancy: it is, therefore, interesting to situate the concept of community of practice within it. What emerges from this analysis offers to designers of ICT-based applications, such as information systems, knowledge management systems, etc., some new hints on the nature of those systems.

Sociocultural constructs of children and childhood

2019 ◽  
Vol 578 (3) ◽  
pp. 3-10
Author(s):  
Joanna Maria Garbula ◽  
Małgorzata Kowalik-Olubińska
Keyword(s):  
Developmental Psychology ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Childhood Studies ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Sociocultural Perspective ◽  
The Social ◽  
Sociocultural Approach ◽  
Universal Feature ◽  
Children And Childhood ◽  
Cultural Component

Interpretations of the concepts of children and childhood have significantly changed over the past centuries. In the eighteenth century childhood was ascribed a status of a separate phase of human life in which human beings learn, grow and develop. Research conducted within the developmental psychology paradigm based on the notion of childhood’s ‘naturalness’ and on the necessity and normality of development has contributed to the emergence of a universal vision of the child and childhood. This vision has been challenged by the research conducted within the sociocultural paradigm in which childhood, understood as a social construction, is neither a natural nor a universal feature of human groups but appears as a specific structural and cultural component of many societies. We focused our attention on the sociocultural interpretations of the concepts of children and childhood. Our aim is, therefore, to show the ways in which children and childhood are understood in a sociocultural perspective. In the introductory part of the paper we briefly describe a universal vision of child development as well as the criticism it met from the supporters of the social childhood studies. In the main part of the article we focus our attention on the issue of social constructing of children and childhood. Sociocultural approach to childhood reveals a multitude and diversity of images of children and childhood constructed by adults in a variety of places, contexts and social spaces.

scholarly journals Social doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church: the creative work of women

2009 ◽  
pp. 142-149
Author(s):  
L.M. Pohorila
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Social Dimension ◽  
Roman Catholic Church ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Social Doctrine ◽  
The Social ◽  
Material Goods ◽  
The Church

The urgency of the issues discussed in the article is due to the fact that a person always stood and will be at the center of the interests of any religious structure, and especially if that structure is such an authoritative, powerful and influential Church as the Roman Catholic one. Today, centralized Catholicism presents its social position as a moral improvement of a person through cooperation with other people for the sake of a common and perfect future. The purpose of the article is to examine the social concept of Catholicism, which is pervaded by the ideas of providentialism. The latter is characteristic of considering the social development of mankind in accordance with God's plan. The crown of creation of the Most High is man (man and woman, regardless of gender), so "the Church implements her plan through man, but not in the abstract, but in a concrete, living, social dimension," - says Cardinal Joseph Goffner. Through the constant evangelization of humanity, the Church seeks to influence the improvement of human life and seeks to point to Christianity as a faithful way of life. But a world where the horrors of war have been replaced by the "war of civilizations," you will not call the "war of cultures" perfect. Nor can one see the great desire of mankind for moral development, spiritual perfection, but only the desire for the accumulation of material goods.

scholarly journals Methodology of studying art: sociology, culturology, and art history

2021 ◽  
pp. 45-53
Author(s):  
Evgenii Aleksandrovich Popov
Keyword(s):  
Art History ◽  
Modern Art ◽  
Comprehensive Analysis ◽  
Comprehensive Approach ◽  
Social Dimension ◽  
Sociological Research ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Scientific Fields

This article describes the capabilities of methodology of studying art in the three interrelated scientific fields – sociology, culturology, and art history. Emphasis is placed on determination of the key criteria of comprehensive approach towards the analysis of art: each of the three scientific fields may have its own unique criteria for such analysis, but there also universal criteria that allow most fully assessing the essence and purpose of art, considering the general trends of its development in modern reality. The subject of this research is the methodology of comprehensive analysis of art using the instruments of sociology, culturology, and art history. The main conclusions are as follows: 1) disclosure of the content of the methodology of studying art; 2) determination of various criteria for comprehensive analysis of art within the framework of sociology, culturology, and art history; 3) demonstration of capabilities of using certain criteria in analyzing the essence of art and artworks; 4) focus on the social dimension of art, touching upon the heuristic value of the methods of applied sociological research; 5) characteristics of the capabilities of studying the symbolic nature of art in the context of culturology; 6) assessment of the development trends of the methodology of modern art history.

New values and social rights around life and death

2011 ◽  
pp. 45-55
Author(s):  
Carmine Clemente
Keyword(s):  
Human Life ◽  
Living Will ◽  
Social Effects ◽  
Current Debate ◽  
Social Rights ◽  
Life And Death ◽  
The Social ◽  
Critical Issues ◽  
Italian Constitution

This contribution deals with the end of life and living will in the light of the current debate in Italy. Starting from the emblematic case of Eluana Englaro, it examines some critical issues related to the interpretation of art. 32 of the Italian Constitution, such as the concepts of autonomy, informed consent and unavailability of human life. Judges are held accountable to answer social demands as affirmation of individual rights of freedom on the end of their own life, due to the inertia of action from the politics. Finally, it is carried out a theoretical analysis of the social effects of the bio-law in changing societies as well as of the role of science and medicine into person/disease matters.

Introduction

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Karen Stohr
Keyword(s):  
Human Life ◽  
Social Aspect ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Moral Improvement ◽  
Moral Ideals ◽  
Practical Project ◽  
The Social ◽  
Aims And Scope

This short introductory chapter sets out the aims and scope of the book as a whole, with the goal of orienting the reader. It explains the motivation for the project and the philosophical inspirations for the approach, as well as the limitations. The chapter begins by explaining the gap referenced in the title in terms of a gap between moral ideals and the reality of human beings and human life. Moral improvement is the practical project of trying to narrow that gap as far as possible. Understood as a practical project, it is fundamentally first-personal. It is also, however, fundamentally social. Moral improvement is something we do together. The social aspect of moral improvement consists in constructing joint normative spaces in which we can make ourselves better. The chapter concludes with brief summaries of individual chapters.

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