PHIL 2390H Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Thesis Statement, Abortion Debate, Thought Experiment
26 Jun 2018
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Chapter 4 Moral Status of the Human Fetus and Infant
-Human being: either (a) (according to the biological humanity perspective) an individual
with either human DNA or specific physiological characteristics such as a human brain or
cardiovascular system; or (b) (according to the psychological humanity perspective) an
individual with psychological existence, specifically the ability to know that it exists and
has interests.
-Persistent vegetative state (PVS): a condition in which an individual’s higher-order brain
function is absent due to trauma or lack of oxygen, resulting in an irreversible coma or
“brain death”.
-Abortion: the intentional termination of a pregnancy at any stage during the fetus’s
gestational development.
-Positive right: rights to the provision of some item or service, for example the right to
receive an elementary school education or health care (aka welfare rights).
-Negative right: the right to non-interference, according to which others refrain from
doing something to or interfering with an individual.
“On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion”
Mary Anne Warren
“a fetus is not a person, hence not the sort of entity to which it is proper to ascribe full moral
rights.”
-Claiming that the fetus is a human but not a person.
-Traditional argument against abortion
oPremise 1: It is wrong to kill innocent human beings
oPremise 2: Fetuses are innocent human beings
oConclusion: it is wrong to kill fetuses
-What is meant by human being in these 2 premises?
-Genetic human being vs moral person
oIf ‘genetic’ human being is meant in both cases, then premise 2 is true, but
premise 1 begs the question.
oIf the term human beings is meant to mean ‘moral person’ in both cases then
premise 1 might be clearly true but premise 2 begs the question.
-Begging the Question and more
oThe fallacy of begging the question, also known as circular argument, occurs
when the conclusion is itself assumed in some way.
oThe traditional argument against abortion only holds if we equivocate on the term
human being, that is we use one word but it has multiple meanings in different
premises.
Human beings need sugar to survive, some forms but not all (i.e. candy
bars vs glucose in fruit)
-So, the task before Warren is to determine who counts as a moral person.
oFirst –she claims there are good reasons NOT to equate genetic human being with
moral person.
oSecond –she considers the characteristics necessary to be considered a person.
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oThought experiment –personhood of aliens (aliens land on the planet, do we
eradicate them, or throw them in jail, do they hold moral standards? Do we owe
them the respect of moral persons)?
-Warren outlines 5 traits which are central to personhood
1. Consciousness
2. Reasoning
3. Self-motivated activity
4. Communication
5. Self-awareness
If being has none of these it is not a person, but some subset of these traits might be
enough for personhood.
-Warren remarks: “Now if 1-5 are indeed the primary criteria of personhood, then it is
clear that genetic humanity is neither necessary nor sufficient for establishing that an
entity is a person. Some human beings are not people, and there may well be people who
are not human beings.”
oIf you are in a coma or braindead, you have no self-awareness? Depends on what
your notion of self is.
oInfants might not meet this criterion
Guided Readings: (This is repetitive but I didn’t want to delete anything)
-To begin ask yourself why is the moral status of the fetus an important consideration in
the abortion issue? Do you think if we settle this question the abortion issue will be
settled?
- What is Warren’s thesis in this paper? Traditional anti-abortion arguments rest on the
humanity of the fetus and the immorality of murder.
Failure of pro-choice arguments:
-Pro-choice arguments that point to negative consequences of restricting abortion do not
undermine the strength of the traditional pro-life argument
-Pro-choice arguments that point to the violation of a woman’s right to control her own
body also fail to undermine this traditional argument because a right not to be harmed
trumps a property right.
Traditional argument against abortion
-Premise 1:
oit is wrong to kill innocent human beings
-Premise 2:
ofetuses are innocent human beings
-Conclusion:
oit is wrong to kill fetuses
What is meant by human being in these two premises? What is the problem she sees with this
argument? Warren argues that when we claim it is wrong to kill humans what we really mean is
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Document Summary
Chapter 4 moral status of the human fetus and infant. Persistent vegetative state (pvs): a condition in which an individual"s higher-order brain function is absent due to trauma or lack of oxygen, resulting in an irreversible coma or. Abortion: the intentional termination of a pregnancy at any stage during the fetus"s gestational development. Positive right: rights to the provision of some item or service, for example the right to receive an elementary school education or health care (aka welfare rights). Negative right: the right to non-interference, according to which others refrain from doing something to or interfering with an individual. On the moral and legal status of abortion . Claiming that the fetus is a human but not a person. Traditional argument against abortion: premise 1: it is wrong to kill innocent human beings, premise 2: fetuses are innocent human beings, conclusion: it is wrong to kill fetuses.
