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Discussion

A New Defense of Brain Death as the Death of the Human Organism

05.09.2023

Event Summary

At this event, Andrew McGee (Australian Centre for Health Law Research, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia), Dale Gardiner (Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Nottingham, UK), and Melanie Jansen (Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Nottingham, UK) explored whether it is legitimate to redefine the concept of death in the context of equating brain death with the death of a human being. Objections to redefining death have been overstated, and the researchers defended a new rationale for equating brain death with death. They discussed the criticisms made by Alan D. Shewmon, Franklin Miller, and Robert Truog, and addressed the concerns that redefining death would result in talking about something different or protect an original assumption from falsification. The discussion also examined the difference between matters of definition and matters of fact and whether the redefinition of death in this context is justified.