Steven Pinker Why They Kill Their Newborns Essay

In contrast to a socially constructed society, I deem abortion, and neonaticide (the act of killing a newborn), to be an immoral act. People in our society are prosecuted for murder every day, yet turn a blind eye to the murder that is promoted politically, economically, and socially by institutions and the individuals who run them. Although he silently favors a women’s choice, Steven Pinker conducted a piece, that originally debuted in The New York Times, over two decades ago called, “Why They Kill Their Newborns.” This essay is the motive behind Michael Kelly’s response piece that I summarized in part one. In Pinker’s essay, he provides an in-depth description to what might drive a mother to kill her newborn. His essay goes beyond the concept

This leads the reader, in this case, me, to reach beyond the text and wonder at what point does society think it’s acceptable to commit murder, and why sometimes it is a crime, and other times it is not. In our justice system, the only acceptable case to commit murder is in self-defense; is it self-defense to kill a baby, one that the mother invited, due to irresponsible actions? Steven Pinker offers an explanation after comparing all mammals and personhood: “… the right to life must come… from significant traits that we humans happen to possess,” Pinker claims (199). He goes on to define those traits as the, “… ability to reflect upon ourselves as a continuous locus of consciousness,” and having, “… experiences that defines us as individuals and connects us to other people,” amongst other things (Pinker 199). In that case, does it make it acceptable to kill a newborn because you find out he or she is mentally ill? How can you earn what you’re not given? How is that morally acceptable? These are all rhetorical questions that answer

Doesn’t this directly contradict his claim two pages earlier? “These are middle-class girls whose babies would have been kept far from starvation by the girl’s parents or by any of thousands of eager adoptive couples,” Pinker states (197). He later writes, after describing emotions and their connection to history, “She will give birth in circumstances that are particularly unpromising for a human mother: alone,” (Pinker 197). How is the young mother alone if she is in a middle-class family, supported by her parents? What better conditions could he potentially be alluding to… a prince with a white horse, or avoiding the humiliation by peers in correspondence to teen pregnancy? Does that give someone the right to kill a human being? According to Pinker, it