I saw this article on new research into the brain activity of patients in "vegetative" states in the New York Times earlier this week, and thought some of you might find it interesting, especially in relation to our discussion of Descartes. If, as Descartes argues, the essence of the human soul rests in the mere fact of thinking, then any discovery that shows evidence of mental life in such patients raises all kinds of complex ethical concerns about their autonomy and human dignity.
One more thing: brace yourself for the terrible Descartes pun at the end of the article, and don't say I didn't warn you!
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That was truly a TERRIBLE pun.
ReplyDeleteInteresting article, though. Yes, according to Descartes, the vegetative patients may exist and rate higher than animals because they think. However, I think he might(or, if not, I will) go a bit further and specify that what separates us from animals is not only that we think, but that we reason. Just because these people are having thoughts does not mean that they can truly reason out the questions they are being asked which, I think, means life and death decisions cannot be based on these results even if it can be proven that in all cases the readings represent yes and no correctly.
Pun is the lowest form of wit, but wit is the highest form of humor. Good enough for me.
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