Eric Olson (Sheffield): “Why definitions of death don’t matter”

Abstract: Definitions of death are said to be important because they tell us at what point someone dies, which ethicists need to know in order to work out when someone loses the intrinsic moral status of the living.  This paper argues we need not know what death is or when it occurs in order to answer these ethical questions.  Questions about the significance of death are really questions about the significance of the various specific losses that figure in definitions of death.  Which of those losses amounts to death makes no difference.

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