Describing Life to Define Death: A Cuban Perspective

Abstract

th Century, however, a revolution occurred in the definition of death, provoked by the ethical and medical dilemmas inherent in the innovation of intensive care life-support mechanisms and the advent of organ transplantation involving cadaveric donors. Since then, global discussion has focused on the neurological: what part of the brain must be declared irreversibly dysfunctional for an individual’s death to be declared? But more is required. Science is challenged to encounter a single definition of death that integrates philosophical and ethical premises with a neurological understanding of brain function. So it must first answer the question: “What is the essence of human life”?, and then the question: “What conditions can be scientifically determined to be so inconsistent with human life as to render death?”. As a researcher and head of the Cuban commission established in 1992 to develop an applicable definition for determination and certification of death, I have joined those grappling with these questions for several decades. Over time, many of us have identified consciousness as the source of attributes essential to human existence, governing the organism’s functions and making every person unique, with a singular life experience, interests, memories, and personality. Consciousness represents the integrated sum of cognitive, emotional, and higher psychological functions denoting understanding of one’s existence and recognition of both internal and external worlds: the essence of human life.