What Happens to the Person With Dementia?

Abstract

Answering this question depends on how the person without dementia is understood. Consequently, this research project has two main steps. The first is to assess competing understandings of the human person to see if there is a preferred understanding. If this is successful, the second step is to see whether this preferred understanding helps develop our understanding of what happens to the person with dementia. This article makes a start on the first step by presenting two requirements by which to assess contenders for the preferred understanding of the human person. The criteria are philosophical coherence and empirical adequacy. As an example of the kind of work involved in making this ass..