The Morality of Abortion and Surrogacy

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The Morality of Abortion and Surrogacy

It is said that, the basic principle of such tradition is that humans communicate through symbols, which are a common currency through which a sense of self is created through interaction with others. Mead's theory neatly avoids the trap of positing a sense of self that is constructed entirely through symbols and society by making a distinction between two different selves: "I" which is the unsocialized self; the font of individual desires and needs, and "me," the socialized self, the self within society. (p. 184) Elliot rightly identifies the flaws of symbolic interactionism: namely, the obsession with rationalism and the wholesale disavowal of the emotional aspects of the self. The American sociologist Irving Goffman would seem to articulate a rather more fluid version of selfhood. Irving's self is constantly engaged in per formative space, routinely playing specific roles within particular scenes of social interaction. (2001) This conceptualization of self too is not without its flaws, for although Irving maintains that there is a self behind the masks, it is not this self but rather its per formative role-playing that appears to be analyzed in Irving's theory.

Abortion

The mind is the ultimate resource and the only thing that is truly scarce in absolute terms. Abortion thus adversely affects society by both reducing the quantity of minds available and by exacerbating negative externalities. Thus, abortion is not in the public interest on account of both of these reasons and, therefore, it cannot be a just or genuinely beneficial public policy. (Germain, p. 275)

Theologians will argue that killing innocent human beings is moral turpitude s...

... middle of paper ...

...red. The basis of IVF, surrogate motherhood and sundry practices is allergic to morality. Further developments would only inspire other immoralities. We have to make them a tough procedure to follow. We need to construct an order before crises impose one as a necessity. By then many waters of life may have passed irrevocably under the bridge.

References:

Elliot, Anthony. ‘Concepts of the Self’, Malden: Blackwell Publishers Polity Press, 2001. pp. 184

Germain Grisez, Abortion: the Myths, the Realities, and the Arguments, New York: World Publishing Company, 1970; Corpus Books, 1972, p. 275

Shanley, Mary Lyndon. “Surrogate mothers” and women’s freedom: A critique of contracts of human reproduction. In Bodies Perfect, Bodies Everlasting, Bodies Bought and Sold, pp.87-106

Damola, Awoyokun (Monday, September 29, 2003) Perils of IVF and surrogate motherhood

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