n. a philosophical concept designed to determine which individuals have human rights and responsibilities. Personhood may be distinguished by possession of defining characteristics, such as consciousness and rationality, or in terms of relationships with others. Philosophers disagree on whether all humans are, or all nonhuman animals are not, persons, especially when debating the ethics of abortion, euthanasia, and human uses of animals. In law, corporations can be regarded as having personhood, when identifying their rights and responsibilities.
n. absence of vital functions. Death is diagnosed by permanent cessation of the heartbeat. Brain death is defined as permanent functional death of the centres in the brainstem that control breathing, heart rate, and other vital reflexes (including pupillary responses). Many decisions in medicine depend on death being clearly defined and objectively observed. Particular problems arise when a potential organ donor is being kept artificially alive. Legally, two independent medical opinions are required before brain death is agreed and organs can be removed for transplantation. In medical ethics, death is of crucial interest because it elucidates debates about *personhood and prompts consideration of the duties owed to the living and the deceased. Religious perspectives on death may inform the ways in which people perceive the withdrawal of medical treatment and organ donation. See dying.... death
n. 1. the state or quality of being human. In most ethical traditions, membership of the human species is seen as conferring a unique moral status, so that human life is considered inherently and particularly valuable and worthy of protection (see sanctity of life). Humanity may be defined in terms of a unique capacity to feel, reason, evoke emotional responses, or form relationships (see personhood). 2. compassion or benevolence.... humanity
the religious or moral belief that all life – and especially all human life – is intrinsically valuable and so should never be deliberately harmed or destroyed. Many of those who hold such a view will have ethical objections to *euthanasia, *abortion, and *embryo research. The phrase may also be used to denote that the value of life should always be respected, whatever the perceived quality of that life. See also humanity; personhood.... sanctity of life
adj. capable of living a separate existence. The legal age of viability of a fetus is 24 weeks, by virtue of the Abortion Act 1967 (as amended), but some fetuses now survive birth at an even earlier gestational age due to advances in neonatal medicine and technologies. The treatment of very premature neonates can raise issues of *personhood, *quality of life, and resource allocation. —viability n.... viable
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