Reply #20: My take on life and death [View All]

The wishes and desires of the individual should be respected first. If unavailable then the wishes and desires of the loved ones comes next. In the case where there are no family or loved ones avail the state decides.

It is my considered opinion that it is not simply life that we protect. Specifically it is the continued existance of the mind. From the moment it is reasonable to presume that a mind exists we should consider its continuation as a moral factor.

From the moment such a condition of a mind exists to the point where there is no hope of its continuation one should struggle to maintain it.

Medically speaking there are occaisions when damage can occur to the brain that renders the mind nonfunctional. But our medical learning leads us to understand that such conditions can be corrected either through our skills or natural healing. In such a case we extend same rights we give to an existing mind in the hopes that it will return. Should we become aware that there is little to no hope of their return it is appropriate to allow the body to die as the mind is no longer there.

There are of course individuals that for various reasons choose to embrace death. While this is their right it is also your right to challenge them and struggle to keep them from making that descision. You cannot prevent them but if you believe that there is reason for them to stay then present it.

In matters of abortion until there is a functional brain present there is no chance of harming a mind. Until that point IMO it is merely a medical procedure with no moral consequence. But once a brain is present and functional we begin moving into morally uncertain territory.

The mere presense of a brain does not mean there is positively a mind present. A mind is not just the wiring of the brain. It is a brain combined with enough experience to create a neural net sufficient to give rise to a mind. Thus a fetus with a brain is a cipher. It may or may not have a mind. The further along in the gestation the more complex the moral issue becomes.