WE> Medical determination of death is not easy.  Life and death have many
 WE> surprises on their border.  Is brain death death?  Is a decaying body
 WE> dead?  There are just some notions that defy definition and this is one.
 WE> Another is consciousness which is even more defiant of conscious
 WE> cognition.
   I thought, William, that medical determination of death had become
relatively easy.  As for those of us without medical training, common sense
kicks in and if we see living animals and then the same species of animals
lying about in the woods in various states of decay most of us have little
trouble determining a difference.  Whether or not there is some animating
force ASSOCIATED with a "living" body has been a millenial question.  When
Homer(s) was writing his classic the body was conceived as something like 
hat
we would consider today as being an "animated corpse" if we can still imagine
any such thing.  That is what the gods and later the God did to mudpies - 
ave
them animation (anima - soul).  Quite honestly, at 77, I'm not really
interested in a lot of action following THIS life.  The philosophical 
uestion
regarding governance of the masses, however, is how order is accomplished
without a rather literal belief in rewards and punishments which conveniently
people often want to judge while still "living."  If they lack such belief
then it is quite easy to say, "oh well, there quite possibly IS NO judgement
so I'll just do all of the devilment I would like to do, enjoy myself and if 

can manage to escape punishment for my crimes here, I'm home free. 
   Political Philosophy has to take such a question as this quite seriously
because it goes to the question of whether or not conscience is of any
consequence.  Physical science demands no conscience whatsoever.  
Sincerely, 
                                     Frank
                                                                              
                                                       
--- PPoint 2.05
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