After reconstructing in details the cases of Piergiorgio Welby and Eluana Englaro as illustrative in the Italian context of the problems raised by the crises of the idea of cerebral death and by the condition of "permanent vegetative state", there is an attempt to analyze, beyond the news, the different types of end-of-life decisions considering the specific issues of legal, bioethical and sociological nature pertaining to each of them, trying to outline for everyone some research designs of sociological interest; to conclude with a series of considerations on a couple of background questions related to the concept of person which, implicitly or explicitly, cross cuts all the different debates, and the care relationship, as a framework within which the end-of-life decision is embedded.
Keywords: Decisioni di fine vita, direttive anticipate di trattamento, testamento biologico, persona, riflessività interiore, relazione di cura