PHLB09H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Zygote, Sentience, Developmentalism
Document Summary
Note: marquis endorses the position that an embryo is not an individual while it can still be divided or twinned, so long as the embryo can divide, there is no moral status for it. The liberal/conservative (sumner): liberal = moral status for fetus at birth, conservative = moral status near conception, each view leaves out that gestation could affect the moral status. Sumner: a developmental view needs to be made to show the significance of gestation, development of the fetus grounds moral status, there is a gradual acquisition of moral standing. Third view: the early stages of development should treat the embryo on par with the sperm/ova, the late stages should treat the fetus on par with an infant. Critique of the liberal/conservative: these views are neither differential nor developmental, the status of the fetus doesn"t change throughout. The moral threshold: this view is grounded by sentience, the capacity to experience pleasure/pain, the capacity to desire disappointment, moods/emotions, feelings.
