Philosophy 2715F/G Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Abortion Debate, Cell Culture, Fetus
28 Jan 2017
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Quiz on wednesday (10-20 minutes) covers lectures and readings. As w/ our discussion of the ethical use of embryos, much of the permissibility of abortion turns on the moral status of fetuses. Article 1: marquis: argues that killing fetuses is in the same moral category as killing adult human beings and is seriously morally wrong, abortion debate is fueled by unsustainable positions on both sides. Both sides got it wrong: unsustainable positions: anti-abortionists. Argue that moral status is conferred by possessing a genetic code that is necessary and sufficient for being human. Hold that it is wrong to take any human life. As a moral principle of the wrongness of killing, this is too broad. It implies that it is wrong to kill a human cell culture (and this is absurd: unsustainable positions: pro-choice. Argue that moral status is conferred by rationality. Hold that it is only wrong to kill persons who possess rationality.
