Resurrection, True Resurrection and Undead PC's

[Infiniti2000]

Really? Despite the name, I was under the impression that they were still viewed as dead. They are certainly not living!

That's true, they're not living. But in the fantasy world, things aren't so black & white. The following are various definitions.

creature
A living or otherwise active being, not an object. The terms "creature" and "character" are sometimes used interchangeably.

dead
A character dies when his or her hit points drop to -10 or lower. A character also dies when his or her Constitution drops to 0, and certain spells or effects (such as failing a Fortitude save against massive damage) can also kill a character outright. Death causes the character's soul to leave the body and journey to an Outer Plane. Dead characters cannot benefit from normal or magical healing, but they can be restored to life via magic. A dead body decays normally unless magically preserved, but magic that restores a dead character to life also restores the body either to full health or to its condition at the time of death (depending on the spell or device). Either way, resurrected characters need not worry about rigor mortis, decomposition, and other conditions that affect dead bodies.

living
Any creature with a Constitution score is a living creature. Constructs and undead are not living creatures.

 

[mvincent]

That's true, they're not living. But in the fantasy world, things aren't so black & white. The following are various definitions.

Traditionally, undead would qualify as "dead", "walking dead", "dead bodies", etc.. This seems to be supported by several of D&D's definitions (i.e. "undead are no longer living", etc.)

But let's look at D&D's mechanical definition of dead (the middle definition you presented).
"Dead characters cannot benefit from normal or magical healing, but they can be restored to life via magic. A dead body decays normally unless magically preserved, but magic that restores a dead character to life also restores the body either to full health or to its condition at the time of death (depending on the spell or device). Either way, resurrected characters need not worry about rigor mortis, decomposition, and other conditions that affect dead bodies."
Undead seem to fit this description of dead bodies. Also, after a PC is dead, there is a dead body there. This dead body can be raised as undead. That raising process does not specifically say that the dead body used is technically no longer classified as a dead body... even the name of the spell (animate dead) seems to convey that they are still dead.

Again, I agree with you on the resurrection issue, and I'm not saying your definition of "undead" is invalid (indeed I even agree with it), just pointing out that it may not be conclusive nor inline with everyone else's definition (and so doesn't serve as a solid point to bolster our conclusion on the resurrection issue).