23 ".. . quadruplex est modus faciendi librum. Aliquis enim scribit alienam materiam nihil addendo, vel mutando; et iste mere dicitur scriptor. Aliquis scribit aliena addendo, sed non de suo: et iste compilator dicitur. Aliquis scribit et aliena, et sua; sed aliena tanquam principalia, et sua tanquam annexa ad evidentiam; et iste dicitur commentator. Aliquis scribit et sua, et aliena; sed sua tanquam principalia, aliena tanquam annexa ad confirmationem: et talis debet dici auctor."
Awareness of impermanence is an attitude that permeates much of traditional Japanese culture. It is often seen to be grounded in Buddhist doctrine, which emphasizes the transiency of everything that exists. However, there are statements by the medieval Zen Master Dôgen (1200-1253) – a professedly orthodox Buddhist and arguably one of the most important religious minds from this country – that contradict this feeling. Arguing against over-emphasis on time's passage, Dôgen asserted the stationary aspects of time. Some of his modern readers took such statements as expressions of mystical insight into a world of timeless truth. A close reading of the sources suggests instead that Dôgen wanted to argue against eternalist as well as nihilist views. He developed a complex view of time, which accounts for its stable sequential order. This theory served to substantiate his claim that the Buddhist ideal could only be realized by continued religious practice.
No abstract
The issue of brain death touches directly on questions pertaining to our understanding of what it means to be human. Technological progress made possible the sustaining of signs of life in individuals who seem dead to the world. The concept of brain death was introduced to describe this phenomenon, and to answer some of the normative questions that were raised by it. In my article, I approach the problem of brain death with a focus on its temporal aspects. First I sketch out some general features of human life and death in terms of the theories of time of J. T. Fraser and G. Dux. Then I describe and analyze various definitions of brain death and criteria for its testing.The two most important variants are 'whole brain death' as the death of the organism, and 'cerebral death' as the death of the person. I discuss arguments in favor of, and against these concepts and analyze the framework and structuring of temporalities involved in each of them. I conclude that the extant theories in favor of 'brain death' are unsatisfactory, for factual and conceptual reasons. Most importantly, they neglect essential factors of personal identity. Because they employ a naturalistic concept of the human body, they fail to grasp its expressive quality and its function as a medium of communication. Furthermore, they fail to grasp the social dimension of personal identity. Because the concepts of 'brain death' as a criterion for the determination of death fail, we should regard brain-dead people as living human beings, and decide about their treatment accordingly.
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