Aleka LampruPHIL140 Study GuideOctober 28th, 2013Abortion- Warren “On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion”- Marquis “Why Abortion is Immoral”- Thomson “A Defense of Abortion”Euthanasia- Rachels “Active and Passive Euthanasia”- Brock “ Voluntary Active Euthanasia”- Kass “Is there a Right to Die”1) Mary AnnWarren—conclusion: for abortion- a fetus is not a person (5 traits) and a person has full moral rights, therefore, a fetus does not have full moral rights. - Right of a mother overrides the right of the fetus. Thought Exp: space explorer captured by aliens- Objection to argument: infanticide—if a fetus is not a person, then a newborn baby and infants also do not have the 5 traits- Reply: Infants are valued by people and society; the baby inside the mother is not—Own rights. - Father?2) Don Marquis—conclusion: most of the abortions are immoral - Traditional argument (pro-choice)- Distinction between pro choice and anti abortionist- Pro choicer argument: only killing a person is morally wrong (too narrow)- Anti abortionist argument: it is wrong to take a human life—fetus (too broad)- Problem: DM says the traditional argument is too narrow and too broad- DM Argument: a) Wrong to kill usb) Deprives us from living a future like ours- Implications:- Wrong to kill non-human animals? True; some have our characteristics- Active euthanasia wrong? False; because if a person does not wish to live, why should they? (Conscious people= active) not okay to kill but its okay to let die- Objection:- Desire account: deprives people’s desire to live- DM reply: suicidal teenager; not a valid objection- The sentients is why we cant kill, not because of a future like ours- DM reply: prospect/future like ours- Entail contra conception (emergency pills after pregnancy) is immoral- DM reply: thousands of sperm/ovules; we can’t pin point.3) Judith Jarvis Thomson—conclusion: fetus is a person—right to life- Thomson rejects the 4th premise; abortion is sometimes permissible when the mother’s life is at stake or when pregnancy stems from rape- A woman has the right to decide what happens to her body; Thought Exp: The Violinist (no consent/rape)- The Extreme View:- No matter what, abortion is morally impermissible—argues using the violinist thought experiment. - Neglects to recognize the mother’s right.- Premise that Thomson rejects here is the 2nd premise; she tries to argue that the fetus is innocent- Right To Life:- Not to be killed injustly—right to life- The right to life is not a right to be given at least the bare minimum of needs. UsesHenry Fonda argument.- Right to life is NOT to not be killed by anybody- Objections:- People and cultures have different points of view—people might reject the violinist thought experiment.- Thomson and Marquis: same argument but different ideas- Thomson’s definitions may be problematic because some may not agree with experiments - We can’t morally condemn someone for not saving a person’s
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