Addendum to Abortion Post
Thus have I made as it were a small globe of the intellectual world, as truly and faithfully as I could discover. ~ Francis Bacon
If it was not clear from my previous post, there are multiple arguments driving the majority of contemporary philosophers against the pro-life position–the personhood issue is just one small part of the overall case. And I have never heard of a contemporary moral philosopher advance arguments against the personhood of Native Americans, Jews, Africans, Mexicans, gypsies, or seattle hippies. (One commenter suggested as much.) However, this argument was advanced by the Catholic Church against the people of the new world with devastatingly consequences. The disabilities issue is somewhat different. If we are talking about pre-natal testing with a positive result for severe deformities, yes, many philosophers would advocate abortion.
The argument that sometimes in the past people were wrong about personhood so they are (probably) wrong about 6 week old is specious. (Roughly the argument of a commenter.) Of course nothing I say will change anyone’s mind, especially if their friends or lives or salaries demand believing the opposite. But so many really important things to worry about–like actual people.
So I won’t say more. Again, for those interested in the philosophical consensus the literature is readily available. If one disagrees, present the opposite case and sway the philosophical majority. I’ll let any of my readers have the last word if they like without further comment.
