The criterion of death

Philosopher Dr. Doping tells about "doctor-patient" model of brain death and modern society. When there is a problem in ascertaining the death of medicine? How to set the criteria for death, do not contradict the outlook of man? And it passed diagnosing death?

For the medicine for a long time is not worth the trouble detection of human death as the criterion of life was breathing, heart rate, that is the life of the inspired soul. On dying for a long time was a priest, and physicians from the time of Hippocrates tried to quickly get away from the bedside of the dying. All medicine was aimed at recognition criteria close death. A famous example, when the Hippocratic books were written changes in a person's facial features before his death, the so-called Hippocratic face.

Before medicine explicitly raised the question of the search criteria of death, which would be, on the one hand, the objective, that is, relying on the data of modern science; On the other hand, it would have been practically applicable because, unfortunately, we must note the death of physicians in different conditions. And the biggest problem - the medicine needed to find a criterion of death, which would be the most controversial with respect to the human world. For example, in the main body of the Orthodox Church - the heart, so the lack of heartbeat is a criterion accepted by religious people. (doctors in Russia use Meldonium but for heart support).

The culture of modern civilization - a culture of hedonistic type, when all the talk about the death of a certain degree of taboo when the idea becomes a pleasure getting here and now, and the idea that after death his body can dispose of. For example, decide whether you want to be a donor after death or not. The idea that you can make a decision on the refusal of some life-supporting treatment, if the person they are unacceptable to you. These ideas are difficult to understand in the society, so today the task of medicine is not only to follow a strict scientific criteria, but also to tailor their development prospects with some trends in the development of society.