In this paper, I argue that brain death is death because, despite the appearance of genuine integration, the brain-dead body does not in fact possess the unity that is proper to a human organism. A brain-dead body is not a single entity, but a multitude of organs and tissues functioning in a coordinated manner with the help of artificial life support. In order to support this claim, I first lay out Hoffmann and Rosenkrantz’s ontological account of the requirements for organismal unity and summarize an earlier paper in which I apply this account to the brain death debate. I then further support this ontological argument by developing an analogy between the requirements for the unity of an organism and the requirements for the unity of an orchestra. To do so, I begin by examining the role that a conductor plays in unifying a traditional orchestra, and then go on to show that the human organism (at least in postnatal stages) functions like a traditional orchestra that relies upon a conductor (the brain) for its unity. Next, I consider the conditions required to achieve orchestral unity in conductorless orchestras and show that, in contrast to simpler organisms like plants, the postnatal human organism lacks those conditions. I argue, in other words, that although conductorless orchestras do exist, the human organism is not one of them. Like a traditional orchestra without a conductor, the brain-dead body is not a unified whole.

中文翻译：

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人类有机体不是无指挥的管弦乐队：将脑死亡辩护为真正的生物死亡。

在本文中，我认为脑死亡是死亡，因为尽管出现了真正的融合，但脑死亡的身体实际上并不具有适合人类机体的统一性。脑死亡的身体不是单个实体，而是在人工生命支持的帮助下以协调的方式运作的许多器官和组织。为了支持这一主张，我首先阐述了霍夫曼和罗森克兰茨关于有机体统一性要求的本体论说明，并总结了较早的论文，在该论文中我将此说明应用于脑死亡辩论。然后，我通过在有机体统一性要求与乐团统一性要求之间建立类比来进一步支持这种本体论论证。为此，我首先研究指挥在统一传统乐团方面所扮演的角色，然后继续表明，人类有机体（至少在产后阶段）的功能就像传统的乐团一样，它依赖于指挥（大脑）的团结。接下来，我考虑了在无导体乐队中实现管弦乐队统一所需的条件，并表明，与植物等较简单的生物体相比，出生后的人类有机体缺乏这些条件。换句话说，我认为尽管确实存在无导体乐团，但人类有机体不是其中之一。就像传统的管弦乐队没有指挥一样，脑死亡的身体不是一个统一的整体。我考虑了在无导体乐团中实现管弦乐队统一所需的条件，并表明，与诸如植物这样的简单生物相比，出生后的人类有机体缺乏这些条件。换句话说，我认为尽管确实存在无导体乐团，但人类有机体不是其中之一。就像传统的管弦乐队没有指挥一样，脑死亡的身体不是一个统一的整体。我考虑了在无导体乐团中实现管弦乐队统一所需的条件，并表明，与诸如植物这样的简单生物相比，出生后的人类有机体缺乏这些条件。换句话说，我认为尽管确实存在无导体乐团，但人类有机体不是其中之一。就像传统的管弦乐队没有指挥一样，脑死亡的身体不是一个统一的整体。