Originally posted by sigma:
Well consider that without a cerebral cortex she can't feel pain, I find it hard to believe she's any more pain today than she was 2 weeks or 2 years ago, myself. Granted I also don't believe she's any more "peaceful" either, since without a cerebral cortex one has neither the ability to feel the pain nor the ability to feel any sort of emotion, which I imagine being "peaceful" would qualify as.

So, personally, I find both sides of that particular argument to be rather ignorant of the facts.


Michael was addressing dehydration and starvation in general, so the pope still qualifies for that peaceful and pleasant death. My point is not that the pope should be starved, but that Michael Schiavo was saying something ridiculous in an attempt to sensitize the public to his wife's horrifying circumstance.

I'll have to consult my bookshelves to see if the cerebral cortex is the only source of pleasure and pain. My memory of my biopsychological training hints otherwise, but I'm uncertain.