2. soul Photo Credit: Ben Crowe Photo Credit: aaron wolpert – Beginning of life is when
immaterial rational soul enter body – Death permanent cessation of spontaneous
movement Body is a Receptacle for the Soul • Aristotle – Develop criteria for when soul
enters developing fetus • Vegetative soul • Animal Soul • Rational Soul Photo Credit: Karl‐
Ludwig Poggemann http://clendening.kumc.edu/dc/pc/Aristotle.jpg Feelings Animal Soul
Vegetative Soul Rational Soul 8 When Did I Begin? 90 days 40 days Photo Credit: Olivier Vax
When Did I Begin? • Important factor in moral evaluation of when abortion takes place
When Did I Begin? • Hebrew Bible Photo Credit: FirewallJC – Exodus 21:22 – considered
unborn not yet one of us/ not a crime of murder – Greek translation – developed fetus is one
of us 9 When Did I Begin? • Christianity – Aristotle had influence for 2000 years – Not killing
one of use until sufficient development occurred and God created a soul – Not before fetus
has sensation Photo Credit: Karl‐Ludwig Poggemann When Did I Begin? • Gratian Decretum
– a fetus did not become one of us until the human soul entered the fetal body some weeks
after conception When Did I Begin? Thomas Aquinas 1225 – 1274 The deliberate
destruction of a fetus before it is animated is morally wrong, but it is not murder 10
Breakdown of Seed Explanation • Attempt to move the time of soul infusion earlier in fetal
development • Technological advances in reproductive medicine When Did I Begin? • Two
components – Egg and Sperm • Discovery of DNA 1827 Photo Credit: Erin Campbell Smith
When Did I Begin? • Fertilized Human Egg Is this the moment when the rational soul
arrives? Photo Credit: Andrea Crisante Arbitrary interpretation 11 When Did I Begin? • Is
the destruction of a fertilized ovum the destruction of one of us? • Is the ‘Right to Life’ being
violated? • Arbitrary Interpretation Modern Concepts • Concept of Person/Personhood – So
widely defined, includes practically everyone – So narrow, only those with
selfconsciousness/rationality/moral agency/rights to be respected Conflict Modern
Concepts • Concept of Self – Consciousness that accompanies thinking – Also controversial
http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/130/009_575‐010~Norman‐Rockwell‐
Triple‐Self‐Portrait‐Posters.jpg 12 When Did I Begin? • No way to prove when human gains
or loses immaterial soul/mind • For a person who has permanently lost awareness, is there
a reason for saying the body has retained immaterial rational soul? No criteria New
Conceptual Framework: Two Extreme Positions • Body receptacle for soul • Humans are
nothing more than their bodies – Marxist ideology – Behaviorism New Conceptual
Framework • Living human body is – Biological – Psychological Human body is a perceiving
body 13 New Conceptual Framework • I experience myself as a psychic, a body that both
perceives, and is aware of perceiving • My body is me
http://www.internetbusinessdirectory.co.uk/cheshire/chester/ ibd230b.jpg New
Conceptual Framework • Body perceives and has the capacity to perceive
http://www.integrative‐breakthrough‐coaching‐solutions.com/images/perception.jpg
Three criteria to determine if a body is one of us: 1) Must have human DNA 2) Body exists
as an individual whole 3) Awareness/capacity for awareness Can verify if a body is one of
us 14 When Do We Begin? Photo Credit: AndreaLaurel Photo Credit: Duncan Hull Photo
Credit: woodleywonderworks When Do We Begin? • Moment of Implantation (Conception)?
• Zygote will not necessarily become one of us – Successfully implanted?
http://embryology.med.unsw.edu.au/Medicine/images/day8and9.jpg When Do We Begin?
4. Brain-Death • Not definitive tool
http://www.cnsforum.com/content/pictures/imagebank/hirespng/placement_EEG_leads.p
ng • EEG only used in secondary role to confirm clinical diagnosis Brain-Death • Hard to
diagnose in children in first year of life • Neurological development incomplete
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/images/ency/fullsize/9854.jpg 7 Brain-Death
• Problems with criterion still exist – Not all states have passed laws, MDs uncomfortable
using – Right to life groups fearful of slippery slope – lead to accepting euthanasia and
abortion http://placebojournal.com/gazettes/j0314371.jpg Cerebral Death • Neocortical –
Support functions of awareness • Not currently recognized as criterion Coma PVS Both
Unconscious • Coma • Looks like in a deep sleep • Can’t be aroused 8 Both Unconscious •
PVS • Alternating sleep and arousal (not aware) • Eyes open • Facial expressions • Can
make sounds
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/jc48.2006/S
chaivoStaiger/balloonfolder/Picture‐
9.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/jc48.2006/SchaivoStaiger/index.html
&h=167&w=220&sz=7&hl=en&start=21&tbnid=LCj36k‐
TBrWT5M:&tbnh=81&tbnw=107&prev=/images%3Fq%3DTerry%2BShaivo%26start%3D
20%26gbv%3D2%26ndsp%3D20%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN Permanent Loss of Capability
for Awareness • If we accept the idea of the psychic body (awareness), perhaps neocortical
death does mean death has occurred • No longer one of us Confusion and Grey Areas
http://ccforum.com/content/figures/cc105‐2.jpg • Continues to be confusion over concept
of brain death 9 Confusion and Grey Areas
http://a.abcnews.com/images/Nightline/ntl_life_death_070917_ms.jpg • Grey areas over
life and death raise ethical concerns Moral Well-being
http://www1.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/1401729/2/istockphoto_140172
9_virtuous_woman_kjv.jpg • Morally virtuous person treats all life with respect, and a high
degree of dignity and care Matter of Interpretation? • Is the manner in which we designate
transitions in embryonic and fetal development an arbitrary exercise? • If we choose the
definition of death as no brain function, how do we separate/distinguish developing fetus
and brain dead adult when human existence is over? Absence of brain life/ (Brain death) 10
What’s Wrong with Analogy that says Human Existence is Over with Brain Death? • Fetus is
alive (just not yet developed awareness) • Brain-dead patient is dead
http://www.ccmep.org/2003_articles/Palestine/tom3.jpg
http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/f/f3/250px‐Fetus.jpg When
Does One of Us Die? • Concept of death • Criteria death – Allows us to verify that death has
occurred (temperature, rigor mortis) – Can be misleading with use of life-support machines
Conclusion Photo Credit: Ben Seldelman 11