Values in Cause-of-Death Inquiry

The WHO definition of underlying cause of death is “the disease or injury which initiated the train of morbid events leading directly to death, or the circumstances of the accident or violence which produced the fatal injury”. Such relations of causation are an objective feature of the world. However, as fierce discussions in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic have shown, the application of the WHO definition allows for considerable leeway and is often affected by value-laden background assumptions and context-specific goals.
The aim of this project is to analyze cause-of-death inquiry with a particular focus on the various roles of causal reasoners’ values and goals. What are relevant causal concepts in cause-of-death inquiry? What roles do value-laden background assumptions play? What is the role of causal reasoners’ aims and goals? What legitimate influences do these factors have on our use of causal concepts? What kinds of factors impede causal inquiry? The project is concerned with specific case studies of causal reasoning. For example, it looks at the controversial diagnosis of death through the so-called ‘Excited Delirium Syndrome’ which is often employed to explain deaths in police custody.  The project integrates both descriptive and normative considerations by focusing on the various functions of causal concepts in contexts of causal explanation and intervention in the medical sciences, and the attribution of responsibility in legal inquiry.

For further details and publications see Enno Fischer’s personal website (https://ennofischer.weebly.com/)