Lecture on Death and Abortion Ethics

These flashcards cover key terms and concepts from the lecture on death definitions and ethical issues in abortion discussions, facilitating revision for the upcoming exam.

Whole brain death

The irreversible loss of functioning of the entire brain, including the brainstem.

Higher brain death

Irreversible loss of consciousness due to loss of cerebral cortex function.

Persistent Vegetative State (PVS)

A form of higher-brain death where consciousness is gone, but the brainstem still functions, leading to periods of wakefulness without awareness.

Legal death criteria (UDDA)

A person is legally dead if they meet either irreversible cessation of circulatory or respiratory functions or all functions of the entire brain.

Uniform Determination of Death Act (UDDA)

A law defining legal death through specific criteria, applicable in all 50 states with some religious accommodations.

Dead Donor Rule

Organ donation can only take place from individuals who have been declared dead.

Jahi McMath case

A case raising questions about the definition of brain death, public trust in medicine, and issues of racial bias.

Ethical issues in defining death

Questions around metaphysical existence, the right to maintain life support for those who are brain dead, and public trust in medical practices.

Pregnant brain-dead patients

Laws requiring life support for pregnant women even after being declared brain dead, affecting families' wishes.

Brain death vs biological death (Truog & Miller)

Argument that a biological organism is dead only when it irreversibly loses integrated functioning; brain-dead individuals may still have biological functions.

Legal status of brain death

Brain death functions as death for ethical, legal, and practical purposes, similar to the concept of legal blindness.

Organ procurement ethics (Truog & Miller)

Argue that organ procurement may be permissible from brain-dead individuals despite their biological state, focusing on the principle of not harming the donor.

Roe v. Wade

Legal case establishing a constitutional right to privacy, affecting abortion regulations in the U.S.

Dobbs v. Jackson

Legal case that overturned Roe v. Wade, removing federal protection for abortion rights.

Sentience

The capacity to have conscious experiences; fetuses are considered not sentient until around 24–25 weeks gestation.

Sorites fallacy

An argument stating that since we cannot identify the exact point where X becomes Y, no difference exists between X and Y.

Violinist thought experiment

A scenario illustrating that even if a fetus is considered a person, a woman is not obligated to sustain its life without consent.

Supererogatory

Actions that are morally good but not required; examples include optional charitable acts.

Right to life definition (Thomson)

The right to life is not a right to be given whatever is needed to stay alive.

People seeds analogy

Illustrates that using contraception means one did not consent to pregnancy, akin to preventing unwanted seeds from taking root.

Deprivation theory of death (Marquis)

Killing is wrong because it deprives the victim of a valuable future.

Future like ours (FLO)

A future containing valuable experiences and relationships; relevant to arguments about the morality of killing.

Contraception objection (Marquis)

The argument asserting contraception might be wrong because it prevents a future from existing.

Personal identity objection

Challenges the idea that a fetus's killing deprives it of a future, questioning continuity of identity.

Qualitative vs numerical identity

Qualitative identity refers to sharing properties, while numerical identity refers to being the exact same individual.

Human being vs person

A 'human being' is a biological term; a 'person' is defined by having moral status and rights.