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Brain Death as a Form of Human Relationships: Brain Dead Person Chapter 1
Masahiro Morioka
 
Area 1 Ethics
Area 2 Philosophy of Social Science
Keywords organ transplantation personhood theory death as a field
http://www.lifestudies.org/braindeadperson01.html
This book shifted the Japanese debate on brain death from "brain-centered analysis" to "human relationship oriented analysis." I defined that brain death means a form of human relationships between a comatose patient and the people surrounding him/her in the ICU. I paid special attention to the emotional aspect and the inner reality of the family members of a brain dead person, because sometimes the family members at the bedside, touching the warm body of the patient, express the feeling that the brain dead person still continues to exist as a living human being. This approach, published more than 10 years ago, has deeply influenced Japanese bioethics, and would probably influence English bioethics, too. Chapter 1 deals with "brain death as a form of human relationships" theory. Published in 1989.