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Introduction - The Ethics of Ontogeny

The formulation of the death concept is a result of a history of realizations through the evolution of human psychology. The death concept - the understanding that you and I and all of us will certainly die - became a universal part of human culture, precipitating the psychology of death anxiety and death-denial. Because the concept of death is basically terrifying to a mortal, self-aware animal, methods of psychological succour were developed through funeral ritual and ideas about life after death. (Becker, 1973; Dawber, 2004). The conceptualisation of "death" had two main stages, built upon our animal survival instinct and mammalian capacity for separation anxiety. First, something strange was realized through the event of another's unresponsive stillness, silence, their lack of selfhood and eventual decay. Next came the analogical realization that oneself will certainly become the same as that still, silent body encountered. This completed the understanding of the death concept - death realized as a universal and absolute event in finite bodily life. The concept of death essentially involves the recognisable end to others like oneself and the consequent realisation of the end of oneself (Dawber and Stodolsky, 2003).

Today death is still recognized in the same way, but medical technology allows a more detailed diagnosis of the process of dying. Death is an ambiguous and controversial part of human existence, understood differently between individuals and cultures. This has resulted in different ethical systems of how to assess the biology of death, whether a particular death was valuable/meaningful, whether it was right or good, and whether continued existence follows death. Furthermore, these questions touch upon many issues, such as: aging, suicide, abortion, mercy-killing, execution, murder, and war.

When do human beings consider another person dead? The answer to this question has always been a temporary one because the diagnosis of death changes with our receptivity to the employment of medical advances. People's interpretation of the death concept has always been changing and will probably be changed again in the near future through the utilization and development of life-saving and life-extending technologies. Changes in understanding the process of death can impact on wider beliefs concerning the medical treatment and ritual disposal of the corpse, the utility of the corpse (e.g. organ transplantation, medical experimentation), and life after death expectations.

Current technologies that show potential for longevity are: stem-cell research, rejuvenating treatments, and cryopreservation; but these longevity technologies are undeveloped compared to what is thought to be needed for extending life-spans. Stem-cell research, rejuvenating treatments, and cryonics are extremely controversial for a variety of reasons. The most pertinent reasons in the former case are that embryos are destroyed when stem-cells are removed. In the latter cases, rejuvenation and cryonics could change our demographics drastically and threaten our current belief-systems, which are based around finite life-spans of around 100 years.

The ethics of ontogeny lie in our philosophical appraisal of modern life-saving and life-extending technologies and in understanding the science that informs modern medicine. The ethics of ontogeny are primarily a form of medical ethics that should manage the controversies involved in medical treatment by striving to fulfill ancient human wishes for happiness, health, and longevity; aims which have been the foundation of medical practice throughout human history.