Ch. 1. Brain death in cultural context: the reconstruction of death, 1967-1981-- Ch. 2. Clinical standards and technological confirmatory tests in diagnosing brain death-- Ch. 3. How much of the brain must be dead?-- Ch. 4. Refinements in the definition and criterion of death-- Ch. 5. On the brainstem criterion of death-- Ch. 6. The persisting perplexities in the determination of death-- Ch. 7. The bifurcated legal standard for determining death: does it work?-- Ch. 8. The conscience clause: how much individual choice in defining death can our society tolerate?

Ch. 9. The unimportance of death-- Ch. 10. American attitudes and beliefs about brain death: the empirical literature-- Ch. 11. Fundamentals of life and death: Christian fundamentalism and medical science-- Ch. 12. The definition of death in Jewish law-- Ch. 13. Brain death, ethics, and politics in Denmark-- Ch. 14. The problem of brain death: Japanese disputes about bodies and modernity-- Ch. 15. Defining death in Germany: brain death and its discontents-- Ch. 16. Dusk, dawn, and defining death: legal classifications and biological categories

Ch. 17. The role of the public in public policy on the definition of death-- Ch. 18. Death in a technological and pluralistic culture-- Ch. 19. Redefining death: the mirage of consensus-- Ch. 20. Where do we go from here?