From the tone of the report by the President's Commission for the Study
of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Re-
search, one might conclude that the whole-brain-oriented definition of
death is now firmly established as an enduring element of public policy.
In that report, Defining Death: Medical, Legal and Ethical Issues in the
Determination of Death, the President's Commission forwarded a uni- form
determination of death act, which laid heavy accent on the signifi-
cance of the brain stem in determining whether an individual is alive or
dead: An individual who has sustained either (1) irreversible cessation
of circulatory and respiratory functions, or (2) irreversible cessation
of all functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem, is dead.
A determination of death must be made in accordance with accepted
medical standards ([1], p. 2). The plausibility of these criteria is
undermined as soon as one confronts the question of the level of
treatment that ought to be provided to human bodies that have
permanently lost consciousness but whose brain stems are still
functioning.