Is an egg chicken or an egg? How many of you had asked this question when you were little?
I think a fetus works the same, so when it comes to morality of abortion, many saying ‘no’ and many saying ‘case by case’. In my paper, I will try to explain Aristotle’s response based on his ethics to the arguments advanced on abortion by Judith Jarvis Thomson and Don Marquis in their essays, “A Defense of Abortion” and “An Argument that Abortion Is Wrong,” respectively.
In Thomson’s article, “A Defense of Abortion,” Thomson argues that abortion is not impermis-sible because she agrees with the fact that fetus has already become a human person well before birth, from the moment of conception (Thomson, 268 & 269). Besides that, she also claims that every person has a right to live, does so a fetus, because a fetus is a person who has a right to live.
Another basic argument she claims is that the mother also has a right to decide what happens in and to her body but the fetus 's right to live outweighs the mother’s right to decide what happens in and to her body. Therefore, Thomson opposes abortion and claims that a fetus may not be killed unjustly and an abortion may not be performed. Whether the unborn person uses of its mother’s body, because the un-born person has a right to live and use its mother’s body, abortion is unjust killing per Thomson. In Marquis’ article, “An Argument That Abortion Is Wrong,” he says that abortion is seriously wrong. He sets out his argument about abortion in the beginning of the essay to prove why it is wrong. He claims that “abortion, except perhaps in rare instances, is seriously wrong (Marquis, 289).”
His view on abortion states that abortion should not be permitted or allowed because it is morally...
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...No matter the life of the mother who carries a fetus is in danger, Aristotle would not see an abortion permissible.
I enjoyed reading these two essays, “A Defense of Abortion” and “An Argument That Abortion Is Wrong,” by Judith J. Thomson and Don Marquis, respectively.
Although the essay, “A Defense of Abortion” by Judith J. Thomson was a little bit confusing to under-stand because she argues in both sides of abortion, permissible and not permissible.
Based on the best of my understanding, both of the writers seem to value a fetus as a human being and they argue that abortion should not be done regardless of circumstances. On the other hand, I think Aristotle response about an abortion might be differently than Thomson and Marquis, because he only considers a complete human being is a human who are capable of virtue and can pursue the highest good, happiness.
Don Marquis primary argument lays on the fact that a fetus possesses a property, the possession of which in an adult human being is sufficient to make killing an adult human being wrong, makes abortion wrong (Gedge & Waluchow, 2012, p224). This property is the right to a valuable future. Marquis argument defends the position that abortion is morally wrong against pro-choice arguments, including the irrationality of a fetus, the lack of a fetus desire to live, and the fetus not being considered a victim.
Thomson starts off her paper by explaining the general premises that a fetus is a person at conception and all persons have the right to life. One of the main premises that Thomson focuses on is the idea that a fetus’ right to life is greater than the mother’s use of her body. Although she believes these premises are arguable, she allows the premises to further her explanation of why abortion could be
... abortion in several ways. First off, he is in favor of euthanasia, he believes that a terminally ill patient should not have to suffer or endure more pain if there is no pleasure in that person’s life and their future holds nothing but suffering. Marquis states that although the victim may believe that their life is valuable to them and the thought of death is frightening, their future does not hold anything of value and will only bring them further pain and suffering. Although he says that euthanasia is not immoral, his stance on abortion still fits with his stance on euthanasia. On the topic of euthanasia, if the patient is thinking rationally, he believes the victim should not have to suffer if their future holds no further value. Therefore, his theories and ideas still apply to each idea while simultaneously ensuring they do not conflict with one another.
What is abortion? Abortion is killing a fetus inside a mother’s womb. According to Don Marquis, killing a fetus is morally impermissible. Marquis came up with an argument that views abortion as immoral and only in rare cases is it accepted. There are only a few rare cases that abortion is morally acceptable according to Marquis in his article, “Why Abortion is Immoral.” Marquis’s view on abortion is relatable because I am a woman and seeing as I am able to bare a child, I feel it is a women’s right to decide if abortion is permissible or not because it is her body and she has all the rights to her own body. Later described is FLO, one of Marquis’s arguments proving abortion is morally impermissible. I do not agree with the FLO argument. Marquis makes strong points, which can be agreeable, but in summary of Marquis’s arguments, he needs to have a more valid case of FLO.
Thirdly, Marquis concludes from the last two premises and says that if you kill a fetus then it is prima facie seriously morally wrong of you. By killing off a human being’s potential values, it is cruel, especially to children because they are defenseless. Then, Marquis asserts that if fetuses and adults are in the same moral categories then the fetus can only be aborted if there is a serious moral concern. In the beginning, Marquis proclaims that there are special cases like rape and the mom’s life being threatened that would override the “moral wrongness” of abortion.
Thomson’s main idea is to show why Pro-Life Activists are wrong in their beliefs. She also wants to show that even if the fetus inside a women’s body had the right to life (as argued by Pro – Lifers), this right does not entail the fetus to have whatever it needs to survive – including usage of the woman’s body to stay alive.
In the article 'A Defense of Abortion' Judith Jarvis Thomson argues that abortion is morally permissible even if the fetus is considered a person. In this paper I will give a fairly detailed description of Thomson main arguments for abortion. In particular I will take a close look at her famous 'violinist' argument. Following will be objections to the argumentative story focused on the reasoning that one person's right to life outweighs another person's right to autonomy. Then appropriate responses to these objections. Concluding the paper I will argue that Thomson's 'violinist' argument supporting the idea of a mother's right to autonomy outweighing a fetus' right to life does not make abortion permissible.
In A Defense of Abortion (Cahn and Markie), Judith Thomson presents an argument that abortion can be morally permissible even if the fetus is considered to be a person. Her primary reason for presenting an argument of this nature is that the abortion argument at the time had effectively come to a standstill. The typical anti-abortion argument was based on the idea that a fetus is a person and since killing a person is wrong, abortion is wrong. The pro-abortion adopts the opposite view: namely, that a fetus is not a person and is thus not entitled to the rights of people and so killing it couldn’t possibly be wrong.
Abortion is an important and rather popular topic in the philosophical world. On one side of the argument, pro choice, Judith Jarvis Thomson argues that abortion is permissible because the pregnancy might not have been voluntary or the mother’s life is at risk if she continues on with the pregnancy. On the opposing side of the argument, Don Marquis argues that abortion is wrong because it takes away all the potential things a fetus could value in their future life. In this paper, I will argue against Don Marquis view of abortion. I will begin by explaining that Marquis does not take into consideration the effect the pregnancy may have on the mother, and I will talk about how Thomson does take the mother into consideration. Next, I will criticize
Marquis’s argument that it is immoral to kill, and abortion is wrong because it deprives one of a valuable future has a lot of problems in my eyes that does not make his view on anti-abortion solid. The lack of arguments that do not raise questions that seem to go unanswered make it hard to be persuaded to change a pro-abortionist mind or even be open to understanding where Marquis’s arguments lead. His “what if” argument leaves room for anyone opposing to “what if” in any direction which is not grounds for an effective argument and hurts Marquis’s because a lot of the questions go unanswered in his essay.
Thomson appeals to the strongest case for abortion, rape, to define the rights of the fetus and the pregnant person. Thomson concludes that there are no cases where the person pregnant does not have the right to choose an abortion. Thomson considers the right to life of the pregnant person by presenting the case of a pregnant person dying as a result of their pregnancy. In this case, the right of the pregnant person to decide what happens to their body outweighs both the fetus and the pregnant person’s right to life.
Whether or not a woman has a right to do whatever she wants with her body is another issue of abortion. The woman’s right to reproductive right...
In our society, there are many ethical dilemmas that we are faced with that are virtually impossible to solve. One of the most difficult and controversial issues that we are faced with is abortion. There are many strong arguments both for and against the right to have an abortion which are so complicated that it becomes impossible to resolve. The complexity of this issue lies in the different aspects of the argument. The essence of a person, rights, and who is entitled to these rights, are a few of the many aspects which are very difficult to define. There are also issues of what circumstances would justify abortion. Because the issue of abortion is virtually impossible to solve, all one can hope to do is understand the different aspects of the argument so that if he or she is faced with that issue in their own lives, they would be able to make educated and thoughtful decisions in dealing with it.
According to Judith Thomson in her book “A Defense of Abortion”, a human embryo is a person who has a right to life. But, just because the human fetus has the right to life does not mean that the mother will be forced to carry it (Thomson, 48). Naturally, abortion may be seen as the deliberate termination of a pregnancy before the fetal viability. Though people have understood this, the topic of abortion has remained a controversial issue in the world. Individuals are divided into “Pro-choice” and “Pro-life” debaters depending on their opinion on the morality of the action. "Pro-life," the non-consequentialist side, is the belief that abortion is wrong, generally because it equates to killing. "Pro-choice," the consequentialist view, however,
In Aristotle point of view abortion would be considered morality wrong because he believes everyone has a person and we were designed for a purpose. Virtue of Ethics “can evaluate the morality of behavior by examining the moral character that such behavior produces” (Velasquez 488). According to Smith abortion is wrong because it promotes a moral character ‘characterized by careless, irresponsibility, dishonesty, and lack of principles” (Velasquez 488). This theory emphasizes that everyone should take responsibility for their actions and that our choices defined our character. I tend to agree with this we are all responsible for our actions and those actions tend to have consequences that tend to affect us personality. This view reminds me of the view of adultery cover in this chapter someone who commits adultery also says a lot about their character because it shows that we cannot trust on this person because they just can keep their word or because they are your seeking pleasure without really considering the consequences and who they can affect.