Persistent Neuroendocrine Function is Still Vegetative: A Reply to Berendes

Abstract

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Aquinas

Thomas.

2020. Summa Theologiae. Accessed November 17, 2025. https://aquinas.cc/la/en/∼ST.I.Q78.A2.

Aristotle. 2009. De Anima. Accessed November 17, 2025. https://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/soul.2.ii.html.

Austriaco

Nicanor.

2025. “On the Death of a Self-Integrating Organism: A Reply to ‘A Biophilosophical Approach to the Determination of Brain Death.’” The Linacre Quarterly 93 (1): 20–27. https://doi.org/10.1177/00243639251375335 .

Berendes

2025. “The Brain as a Whole? Neuroendocrine Functions and Death by Neurological Criteria.” The Linacre Quarterly 92 (4): 392–404. https://doi.org/10.1177/00243639251366464 .

Bernat

James L.

2002. “The Biophilosophical Basis of Whole-Brain Death.” Social Philosophy and Policy 19 (2): 324–342. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0265052502192132 .

Brugger

E. Christian

. 2016. “Are Brain Dead Individuals Dead? Grounds for Reasonable Doubt.” Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 41 (3): 329–350. https://doi.org/10.1093/jmp/jhw003 .

Condic

Maureen L.

2016. “Determination of Death: A Scientific Prospective on Biological Integration.” Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 41 (3): 257–278. https://doi.org/10.1093/jmp/jhw004 .

DeCamp

Matthew

Prager

Kenneth

. 2023. “Standards and Ethics Issues in the Determination of Death: A Position Paper from the American College of Physicians.” Ann Intern Med 76 (9): 1245–1250. https://doi.org/10.7326/M23-1361 .

DeCock

Christopher A.

Sulmasy

Daniel P.

. 2025. “Goldilocks and the Determination of Death.” National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly 25 (3): 377–398. https://doi.org/10.5840/ncbq202525330

10.

Eberl. Jason

. 2015. “A Thomistic Defense of Whole-Brain Death.” The Linacre Quarterly 82 (3): 235–250. https://doi.org/10.1179/2050854915Y.0000000005.

11.

Feikles

Cody.

2024. “It Is Time for the Ethical and Religious Directives to Allow an Objection to Brain Death Testing.” National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly 24 (3): 511–536. https://doi.org/10.5840/ncbq202424339

12.

Feikles

Cody

Thomas

Columba

. Forthcoming. “A Novel Thomistic-Aristotelian Account of Life and Death in the Clinical Setting: Overcoming the Philosophical Impasse.” Nova et Vetera.

13.

Nair-Collins

Michael.

2023. “Must Hypothalamic Neurosecretory Function Cease for Brain Death Determination? Yes. The UDDA Revision Series.” Neurology 101 (3): 134–136. https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0000000000207340 .

14.

Nguyen

Doyen.

2019. “Evolution of the Criteria of ‘Brain Death’: A Critical Analysis Based on Scientific Realism and Christian Anthropology.” The Linacre Quarterly 86 (4): 305. https://doi.org/10.1177/0024363919869474

15.

Sulmasy

Daniel P.

DeCock

Christopher A.

Tornatore

Carlo S.

Roberts

Allen H.

Giordano

James

Donovan

G. Kevin

. 2024. “A Biophilosophical Approach to the Determination of Brain Death.” Chest 165 (4): 959–966. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chest.2023.12.011 .