Bioethicist Peter Singer on abortion
- Locked due to inactivity on Aug 4, '16 4:17pm
Thread Topic: Bioethicist Peter Singer on abortion
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tongue AdvancedThe central argument against abortion could be stated in this way:
"It is wrong to kill an innocent human being. A fetus is an innocent human being. Therefore abortion is wrong".
Singer asserts that if we take the premise at face value, the argument is valid. Singer comments that proponents of abortion attack the second premise. However, Singer argues that human development is a gradual process and that it is nearly impossible to pinpoint a single moment as the moment when human life begins.
While most proponents of abortion attack the second premise, Singer attacks the first, denying that it is neccessarily wrong to take a human life: "The argument that a fetus is not alive is a resort to convienient fiction that turns an evidently living being into one that is not legally alive. Instead of accepting such fiction, we should recognize that the fact that a being is human, and alive, does not in itself tell us whether it is wrong to take that being's life."
Singer argues that positions for or against abortion should be based on utilitarian calculation weighing the preferences of the women versus the preferences of the fetus. In his view, a preference is anything sought to be obtained or avoided; all forms of benefit or harm caused to a being correspond directly with the satisfaction or frustration of it's preferences. Since a capacity to experience the sensations of suffering or satisfaction is required to have any preferences at all, and a fetus has no capacity to suffer or feel satisfaction at least until 18 weeks, it is not possible for a fetus to hold any preferences whatsoever. In a utilitarian calculation, there is nothing to weigh against the preferences of the woman; therefore abortion is morally acceptable.
This is not neccessarily my view. I just thought it would be something to get people thinking. -
wow thats a lot of words, i didnt have the patience to read all of that
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then don't comment :P
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wow bad mood again??
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naw, just telling it like it is. I don't comment unless i read the thread xP
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tongue AdvancedYea I don't think anyone has read this, but I prefer the thread die instead of having people fight. There have been much longer posts Flibber, and if you aren't gonna read it, you shouldn't comment.
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I read it I'm not not sure how to respond...though I do agree with some parts.
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tongue AdvancedIt was just something to consider really, specifically for the anti-abortion crowd. I don't really see it changing their minds though.
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