The philosopher, Francis Beckwith, gives a few reasons why t…
The philosopher, Francis Beckwith, gives a few reasons why the default position should be to protect living human organisms from conception until birth unless there are sufficient reasons to think otherwise. Which of the following is not one of his reasons for arguing that the default position is against abortion choice?
Read DetailsIn Book I.7, we find Aristotle’s famous “function argument.”…
In Book I.7, we find Aristotle’s famous “function argument.” Here, he examines what plant, animal, and human souls have in common and what distinguishes them from one another. The function will be to be the good and noble performance of this function. What power of the soul is peculiar to man? Read all of Book I.7 and 1098a1-10 (pp. 10 – 12 in Oxford)
Read DetailsRoe v. Wade (1973) said that the default position of the Ame…
Roe v. Wade (1973) said that the default position of the American Constitution is that no living human organism has a right to life until it is born (the Supervenient-Birth view of personhood), but if states want to, they could pass laws to protect fetuses after the point of viability (able to survive outside the woman’s body) which was 27 weeks in 1973. . Which of the following is NOT one of the reasons why philosophers argue “Supervenience-Viability” is problematic as a criterion of personhood (supervenient view)?
Read DetailsSome proponents of abortion/feticide argue that this procedu…
Some proponents of abortion/feticide argue that this procedure which has ended the lives of 60 million human organisms in the USA since 1973 is a justified means of population control in the world, and that abortion/feticide (and, perhaps, infanticide as Margaret Sanger argued) is also a justified means of relieving economic burdens on the family. . What is a possible problem with this argument?
Read DetailsThe postmodern or relativistic view of the self (that many A…
The postmodern or relativistic view of the self (that many American laws assume and politicians like President Obama endorsed) says that the mother decides the personhood of the fetus/infant. Which of the following has not been raised as an objection to this view?
Read DetailsOne common Supervenient view up until the 19th Century was t…
One common Supervenient view up until the 19th Century was that the fetus was not a person until it acquired a “soul” and the mother could feel the living organism moving inside her. This view was called “quickening” and it occurred between 12 – 16 weeks. Why is this view rejected today?
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