Death is a Biological Phenomenon

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Published: Mar 31, 2018
DOI: https://doi.org/10.13153/diam.1173
Keywords:
death, life, the organism as a whole, integrated functioning of the body’s major organ systems, irreversible loss of mentation

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Don Marquis
The University of Kansas

Abstract

John Lizza says that to define death well, we must go beyond biological considerations. Death is the absence of life in an entity that was once alive. Biology is the study of life. Therefore, the definition of death should not involve non-biological concerns.

Article Details

How to Cite
“Death Is a Biological Phenomenon”. 2018. Diametros 55 (55): 20-26. https://doi.org/10.13153/diam.1173.
Issue
No. 55 (2018)
Section
Special Topic – Defining Death: Beyond Biology

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Author Biography

Don Marquis, The University of Kansas

Don Marquis, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy
The University of Kansas
529 Tennessee St. Lawrence, KS,
USA

E-mail: dmarquis@ku.edu

How to Cite

“Death Is a Biological Phenomenon”. 2018. Diametros 55 (55): 20-26. https://doi.org/10.13153/diam.1173.
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References

Lizza J.P. (2018), “Defining Death: Beyond Biology,” Diametros 55: 1–19.

Marquis D. (2010), “Are DCD Donors Dead?” Hastings Center Report 40 (3): 24–31.

President's Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research (1981), Defining Death: A Report on the Medical, Legal and Ethical Issues in the Determination of Death, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington (DC).

Shewmon D.A. (2001), “The Brain and Somatic Integration: Insights into the Standard Biological Rationale for Equating ‘Brain Death’ with Death,” Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 26 (5): 457–478.

Warren M.A. (1973), “On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion,” The Monist 57 (1): 43–61.