PHIL 262 Chapter Notes - Chapter Abortion: Fetus, Sentience, Egg Cell
8 Mar 2018
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On the moral and legal status of abortion (pro-abortion) It is wrong to kill innocent human beings a. b. This is the moral sense of human (not the genetic sense) A fetus has a full genetic code and the potential for rational thought . But we cannot just assume that anything "genetically" human is also. The moral community consists of all and only human beings. Consciousness (objects and events external or internal to the being) the capacity to feel pain. Reasoning: the developed capacity to solve new and complex problems. Self-motivated activity (independent of genetic or direct external control) Capacity to communicate messages not just with an indefinite number of possible contents, but on indefinitely many possible topics. Presence of self-concepts and self-awareness, either individual, racial, or both. Distinction between "human being" and being a full-fledged "person" The more like a person you are, the stronger your right to life.
