Need help defending Life! - The Ethical brain by Gazzaniga

  • Thread starter Thread starter Lazerlike42
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
L

Lazerlike42

Guest
I have just begun a bioethics course. Fortunately, one of the two professors is an individual with whom I have a fantastic relationship. He is also very balanced. I expect no trouble from that standpoint.

However, one of the books which was assigned is one which I am concerned will cause me trouble. It is called The Ethical Brain by a Michael S. Gazzaniga. I peaked through it, and the first chapter attempts to establish when life is really life by talking about brain development and brainwaves. He ends up picking times from between 14 days and 23 weeks for the time at which he considers the children persons. Any help specific to this book would be extremely useful and appreciated, especially from someone who knows what they are talking about in terms of the science of this.
 
Anything he comes up with will be an arbitrary scale of his creation. It leaves no safeguard against the slippery slope.
 
I have heard one other person make a similar argument.
He essentially said - that we now recognize “death” when we lose brain waves (brain death), and so they were attempting to apply the same principal to “life” (brain life)

I made the distinction that in brain death - if the brain is left alone - it will not heal itself - it will never again become active.

The brain of a developing embryo is not like this at all. When left alone this brain continues to grow and will quickly become active (as long as it is not artificially snuffed out).
Science recognized “life” in many organisms because they see cell division and growth.
The human embryo exhibits cell division and growth from the moment of conception.
 
40.png
Lorarose:
I have heard one other person make a similar argument.
He essentially said - that we now recognize “death” when we lose brain waves (brain death), and so they were attempting to apply the same principal to “life” (brain life)

I made the distinction that in brain death - if the brain is left alone - it will not heal itself - it will never again become active.

The brain of a developing embryo is not like this at all. When left alone this brain continues to grow and will quickly become active (as long as it is not artificially snuffed out).
Science recognized “life” in many organisms because they see cell division and growth.
The human embryo exhibits cell division and growth from the moment of conception.
Click to expand...
thanks thars great.

But I need more! 🙂
 
Bumping this in the hopes that some new folks today will be able to help.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top