In my last article, I gave a discussion of various arguments against fetal personhood, including the Functionalist view. I presented a detailed analysis of why presently exercising self-awareness does not make one inherently valuable. This will be a follow-up to my last article, presenting a detailed analysis on whether the ability to feel pain or […]
In my previous article on Personhood, I explained that what makes us “persons” (if you must use the term) is our inherent nature as rational, moral agents. While I tend not to focus on personhood arguments unless the topic is broached by the other person, I can only see one reason for disqualifying the preborn […]
It’s an uncontroversial fact of science that the preborn conceived of a human male and human female are human beings (biologically) from fertilization. But does this mean that just because they’re human beings we can’t kill them? There are times when it’s almost universally accepted that it’s acceptable to kill a human being, such as […]
In my previous article, I examined the argument against abortion that I consider to be the strongest, the Substance View. This argument, by philosopher Don Marquis, is also a very strong argument and, when used in tandem with the Substance View, offers a very powerful cumulative case against abortion.This argument comes from Marquis’ 1989 article […]
[Today’s post is the third and final article in a series on abortion and philosophy by SPL member Clinton Wilcox. Part one is here and part two is here.] Now we’ve seen what goes into an argument, and how to possibly respond to an argument. We’ve also seen some arguments that commit logical fallacies, that […]
[Today’s post is part of a series by SPL member Clinton Wilcox. Read part one here.] Now that we’ve learned what goes into making an argument, let’s talk about how to respond to an argument. First, a bit about why philosophy is necessary. Philosophy is all around us. Why are you an Atheist/Christian/Buddhist/etc.? That can […]
[Today’s post is by SPL member Clinton Wilcox.] Science can be a wonderful tool in the pro-life advocate’s arsenal. [1] However, science can’t dictate morality, it can only inform morality. Science can tell us that something we are harming or killing is human; science can’t tell us that it’s wrong to kill that human. So […]
[Today’s post is by SPL member Clinton Wilcox.] Does this sound familiar? “Seventy percent of pro-lifers are men, and 100% will never be pregnant!” How about this? “Pro-lifers are nothing but old white men who want to send women back to the dark ages where they are pregnant and barefoot in the kitchen, breastfeeding twins!”These […]
[Today’s post is the third in a three-part series on “hard cases” by SPL member Clinton Wilcox. For the first post, on fetal disability, click here. For the second, on pregnancy from rape, click here.] One of the most tragic things in life is when a woman or a child dies during pregnancy or childbirth. […]
[Today’s post is the second in a three-part series on “hard cases” by SPL member Clinton Wilcox. For the first post, on fetal disability, click here. And for an argument by an SPL member in favor of the rape exception, click here.] As I have previously shown, abortions because of fetal disability or deformity cannot […]