Question

1.Why does Singer think there are problems with the present concept of brain death?

2. Why does Singer consider the Bland court decision revolutionary?

3. Why does Singer suggest we should go back to defining death as the irreversible cessation of the circulation of blood?

Answer 1

1. Singer thinks there are present problems with the brain death concept due to the fact that after the person's brain is declared dead, there are still a lot of functions of the brain that are still in progress such as the functions of the pituitary. He this brings the ethical argument of organ harvesting from such individuals.

2. Singers considered the bland court decision as revolutionary as he was applied to the family decision of the high court and in his vegetative state with no consciousness at all, they decided to stop providing food to him via the artificial feeding. The concluded that life is of no benefit if the individual has no cognizance of it and cannot consent to treatment. Singer claimed it to bring about the sanctity of life. He said that a person should be allowed to die peacefully due to the sanctity of life and its counterpart, death.

3. He is of this belief as the cessation of blood flow stops virtually all organs, due to the deprivation of oxygenated blood from the aorta, which leads to deprivation and eventual death. This is called being clinically dead, when the heart stops its functioning of providing circulated blood.