HPSC1000 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Judith Jarvis Thomson, Fetus, Anthropocentrism
24 May 2018
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Lecture 8: rethinking life and death
The significance of abortion
The criminalization of abortion in the nineteenth century and its condemnation (after
conception) by the Catholic church represent the hardening of a western tradition which is now
collapsing
What is going on?
Abortion is 24 weeks is legal but killing a baby born premature at 24 weeks is a crime
Abortion and the Conflict of Rights Position
- Judith Jarvis Thomson
Abortion and Futures of Value
- Don Marquis
Abortion and Fetal Interests
- Peter Singer
Singer argues
- P1 - The fetus or newborn doest hae iterests.
- P2 - Without interests, they are without rights. Therefore - It is not wrong to kill them.
His approach
- Pain is bad, and similar amounts of pain are bad no matter whose pain it is: pleasure is
good, no matter whose pleasure it is.
- Humans are not the only being capable of feeling pain or of suffering. Most non-human
animals can feel suffer.
- In killing, we should look not to general characteristics such as race, sex or species, but
to individual characteristics such as the desire to live and what quality of life it is capable
of having.
- We are responsible not only for what we do but also what we could have prevented.
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Document Summary
The criminalization of abortion in the nineteenth century and its condemnation (after conception) by the catholic church represent the hardening of a western tradition which is now collapsing. Abortion is 24 weeks is legal but killing a baby born premature at 24 weeks is a crime. P1 - the fetus or newborn does(cid:374)(cid:859)t ha(cid:448)e i(cid:374)terests. P2 - without interests, they are without rights. Therefore - it is not wrong to kill them. Pain is bad, and similar amounts of pain are bad no matter whose pain it is: pleasure is good, no matter whose pleasure it is. Humans are not the only being capable of feeling pain or of suffering. In killing, we should look not to general characteristics such as race, sex or species, but to individual characteristics such as the desire to live and what quality of life it is capable of having.
