Vegetative state and brain death: Philosophical and ethical issues from a personalistic view

Abstract

This article intends to precise the anthropologic fundaments of the Persistent Vegetative State starting from the concept of the human person, as it has been described in relation to the philosophical-theological thought of Thomas Aquinas and other more recent personalists (J. Maritain, E. Mounier, E. Gilson, S. Vanni Rovighi). This view is largely shared by the catholic thought and is present in the Teachings of the Catholic Church. The central point of reflection is in affirming the double unity of the human person: the substantial unity of the spiritual body-soul; the uniqueness of the animative principle (soul) as "form" of corporeity. The spiritual soul is the active principle not only of the superior activities (thought, liberty) but also of the vegetative-sensitive activity of the organism which is part of the person. Thus, as long as a vital unit exists in the individual person, there will exist the presence of a spiritual soul in the organism, defined as a whole unit, and the subject must be considered alive, even when gravely and persistently hindered in the application of his/her cognitive functions.