Does a "human life" have to have a body and a mind ?

datamax · 02-19-2005, 06:44 PM

Does a "human life" have to have a body and a mind ?

Can a brain dead body still be a living human being ? Can a mind - like perhaps Christopher Reeves - thta exists bascially without a body be a living human being ?

North Texan · 02-19-2005, 07:39 PM

I'd say the mind has to be there to be alive. I wouldn't consider myself alive if I were brain dead. I've left instructions to pull the plug if I'm unfortunate enough to ever be put in that situation. If I still had my mind but my body had failed me, I'm not sure what I would think.

BenGarrett · 02-19-2005, 07:49 PM

Can a functioning brain without a working body be a living human being? Obviously. Can a working body with a dead brain be a living human being? There's only one person who knows the answer to that, and that is the person who gave life: God himself. From time to time, people have to make that decision for themselves: Is it or isn't it a living human being? And they have to decide whether or not to keep that functioning body/non-functioning brain alive. I hope I am never placed in the position to have to make that decision.

datamax · 02-20-2005, 07:06 AM

http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/02/19...eut/index.html

kevin1 · 02-20-2005, 08:19 AM

I don't want to be in a persistant vegetative state one second longer than it takes them to decypher my EEG and say "Well , he's a rutabaga ... " Pull the plug .

If the bod fails and I'm still alive upstairs I'm gonna be pretty well stuck with that . Dr. Kevorkian isn't an option on my planet .

Genetics makes us human , our minds are what makes us the person that we are .

tardfarmer · 02-20-2005, 03:25 PM

Quote:

Can a brain dead body still be a living human being ? Can a mind - like perhaps Christopher Reeves - thta exists bascially without a body be a living human being ?

It depends upon what system you base your medical ethics on. To some, the mentally retarded should be exterminated, to others this is horribly wrong.

You can't really get into this subject without getting into religion.

Scanr1 · 02-20-2005, 03:55 PM

I don't believe in keeping a body alive if the brain is dead.

Pa_Sniper · 02-21-2005, 04:09 AM

I have told people that if I am ever brain dead,but on a ventalator,give it a week,If I get worse,pull the plug,if I come out of it a vegatable,put a bullet in me.I dont want to put my loved ones through that.My parents and my whole family say the same.

Aught Six · 02-21-2005, 09:00 AM

A body only has "life" if it can keep itself "alive". A braindead person is a corpse with a bunch of wires and tubes sticking out of it. A morbid medical experiment, perhaps, but not a living being.

If it's my time to go, I'd prefer to get going.

datamax · 02-21-2005, 09:17 AM

Did anyone read that link ?

A "parasitic" second head from a twin that wasn't developed properly was removed. That head had a brain, facial movements and features ............ was it a living human being ?