Transcript The Right to Life

Contemporary
Moral Problems
M-F12:00-1:00SAV 264
INSTRUCTOR: BENJAMIN HOLE
EMAIL: [email protected]
OFFICE HOURS: EVERYDAY AFTER CLASS
Agenda
1.
ADMIN NOTES
2.
CLICKER QUIZ
3.
JUDITH JARVIS THOMSON: “A DEFENSE OF ABORTION”
WEEK
REQUIRED READING
ASSIGNMENT
Course Mechanics, Theory
Primer, and Philosophical
Argumentation
6/23-6/27
Philosophical Writing and
Ethical Theory
6/30-7/3
(Holiday, 7/4)



Benjamin Hole, Phil 102 Syllabus
Lewis Vaughn, “How to Read an Argument”
Mark Timmons, “Moral Theory Primer”
WA1, due 6/27




Mark B. Woodhouse, “How to Write Philosophy”
James Rachels, “The Challenge of Cultural Relativism”
Jeremy Bentham, “The Principle of Utility”
Robert Nozick, “The Experience Machine”
None
Ethical Theory
7/7-7/11


J.S. Mill, On Liberty, Chapters 1-2
Immanuel Kant (posted on website), “The Moral Law”
WA2, due 7/8
Introduction to Sexual Ethics
7/14-7/18



Thomas Mappes, “A Liberal View of Sexual Morality and the concept of Using Another Person”
The Catholic Church, “Vatican Declaration on Some Questions in Sexual Ethics”
John Corvino, “A Defense of Homosexuality”
None
Introduction to International
Ethics
7/21-7/25
Introduction to Social and
Political Ethics: Censorship
and Pornography
7/28-8/1
Abortion
8/4-8/8


Peter Singer, “Famine, Affluence, and Morality”
Garrett Hardin, “Lifeboat Ethics”
WA3, due 7/22



Ronald Dworkin, “Liberty and Pornography”
Judith M. Hill, “Pornography and Degradation”
Catharine MacKinnon, “Pornography, Civil Rights, and Speech”
None
Pope John Paul II, “The Unspeakable Crime of Abortion”
Mary Anne Warren, “On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion”
Don Marquis, “Why Abortion Is Immoral”
Catch-up / review.
Conference for Final Papers: presentations and discussion
WA4, due 8/5
Conference for Final Papers
8/11-8/15





Abortion
8/18-8/22


Judith Jarvis Thomson, “A Defense of Abortion”
Rosalind Hursthouse, “Virtue Ethics and Abortion”
WA5, due 8/19
Final Paper, due 8/21
None
Assignment five

Critical arguments (Thomson or Hursthouse)

Self-assess final paper (fill out the rubric)

Self-assess learning in this course

Review for the final examination
According to Thomson, most opposition to abortion relies
on:
88%
merely religious arguments.
B. the premise that the fetus is a
person.
C. the premise that killing is
always wrong, regardless of
whether the fetus is a person.
D. an appeal to emotion.
E. an ad hominem.
F. all of the above.
G. none of the above.
A.
13%
pr
e
yr
th
e
el
m
er
0%
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0%
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el
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ise arg
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ise he
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ov
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What attitude does Thomson take toward the claim that a
fetus is a person (with the right to life) from the moment of
conception?
50%
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se
,
no
ne
sf
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.
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bu
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an
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a.
.
e,
none of the above.
si
E.
0%
sh
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she believes it is false, but asks what
would follow if it were true.
st
ru
D.
ti
she believes it is false, and ignores it.
si
C.
be
lie
ve
she believes it is true, but asks what
would follow if it were false.
sh
e
B.
be
lie
ve
she believes it is true, and uses it as an
assumption.
sh
e
A.
50%
The case of the violinist is meant to show that:
63%
ve
.
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ab
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of
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ve
no
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it
D.
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n
C.
38%
tio
B.
abortion is always morally
permissible.
it is not the case that all
persons have a right to life.
the right to life does not entail
the right not to be killed.
everyone has a positive right
to the bare minimum needed
to keep them alive.
none of the above.
ab
or
A.
Judith Jarvis Thomson
“A DEFENSE OF ABORTION”
Pope John Paul II
“The Unspeakable Crime of Abortion”
1.
A fetus is a person with the right to life.
2.
It is morally wrong to kill a person with
the right to life.
3.
Therefore, it is morally wrong to kill a
fetus. (Abortion is immoral.)
The Right to Life
1.
A fetus is a person with the right to life.
2.
It is morally wrong to kill a person with
the right to life.
3.
Therefore, it is morally wrong to kill a
fetus. (Abortion is immoral.)
Rather, Thomson takes issue with the
second premise.
The Right to Life
Thomson’s engagement with the
Pope’s argument
1.
If the right to life is merely a “negative”
right, then it is not always wrong to kill
a person with the right to life.
2.
The right to life is merely a “negative”
right.
3.
Therefore, it is not always wrong to kill
a person with the right to life.
The Right to Life
Thomson’s Main Argument
1.
Either a fetus is a person with
the right to life or not.
2.
If a fetus is a person, then
abortion is not impermissible.
3.
If a fetus is not a person, then
abortion is not impermissible.
4.
Either way, abortion is not
impermissible.
The Right to Life
Thomson’s Main Argument

Premise Two: If a fetus is a
person, then abortion is not
impermissible.

When is it morally permissible to
violate the right to life?
The Violinist
“You wake up in the morning and find yourself back
to back in bed with an unconscious violinist. He has
been found to have a fatal kidney ailment, and the
Society of Music Lovers has canvassed all the
available medical records and found that you alone
have the right blood type to help. They have
therefore kidnapped you, and last night the violinist’s
circulatory system is plugged into yours, so that your
kidneys can be used to extract poisons from his
blood as well as your own … To unplug you would
be to kill the him. But never mind, it’s only for nine
months.”
Killing vs. Letting Die
Say the violinist is putting too much strain
on your kidneys …
“If anything in the world is true, it is that
you do not commit murder, you do not
do what is impermissible, if you reach
around to your back and unplug yourself
from the violinist to save your life.”
“If anything in the world is true, it is
that you do not commit murder”
Strongly Agree
B. Agree
C. Somewhat Agree
D. Neutral
E. Somewhat Disagree
F. Disagree
G. Strongly Disagree
A.
38%
13%
13%
13%
13%
13%
ha
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Ag
r
ee
0%
Judith Jarvis Thomson: “A Defense of
Abortion”
Thought Experiments

Violinist

Expanding Child

People Seeds
Thomson’s View
“even if we assume the fetus is a person
with the right to life, abortion is not
morally impermissible, at least in many
cases”
Positive vs. Negative Rights
“‘everyone has a right to life, so the
unborn person has right to life.’”
“In Thomson’s view, the right to
life (the one we ascribe to
persons) is not a positive right to
receive whatever minimum aid
is needed to preserve life – such
as the use of someone’s kidneys
or Henry Fonda’s cool hand”
(B/B, 390).
The right to life is merely a negative
right.
Positive vs. Negative Rights
SINGER
You are morally required to jump in the
pond to save the drowning child.
THOMSON
You would be a Good
Samaritan if you jumped in the
pond to save the drowning
child (… or did not unhook the
violinist).
The right to life is merely a negative
right.
The right to life is merely negative.
Strongly Agree
B. Agree
C. Somewhat Agree
D. Neutral
E. Somewhat Disagree
F. Disagree
G. Strongly Disagree
A.
ha
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ly
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r
ee
0%
Thomson’s Conclusion


“Nobody is morally required to
make large sacrifices, of health,
of all other interests and
concerns, or of all other duties
and commitments, for nine years,
or even for nine months, in order
to keep another person alive.”
Thus, even if we assume the fetus
is a person with the right to life,
abortion is not morally
impermissible, at least in many
cases.
The Right to Life
Thomson’s Main Argument
1.
Either a fetus is a person with
the right to life or not.
2.
If a fetus is a person, then
abortion is not impermissible.
3.
If a fetus is not a person, then
abortion is not impermissible.
4.
Either way, abortion is not
impermissible.