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Will abortion make me happy?
In the early 21st century a young philosophy instructor faced with the assignment of teaching a "Moral Issues" course decided to engage in an experiment in how to teach ethics. Rather than asking whether a given issue was right or wrong he decided to ask his students whether engaging in certain acts would make them happy? In doing so he was tapping in on the wisdom of classical ethics and changing the subject of moral discussions from divisive arguments over competing moral codes to, what the ancients have always insisted what ethics really is, a conversation about personal happiness. So begins this unique book on the abortion issue. It also features real life letters to the editor on the topic, a look at how modern science has changed the way young people think about abortion. Perhaps the most unique look at the issue in a long time, Will Abortion Make me Happy? is worth a place on your reading list.
109 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2017
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March 29, 2018Every now and then, when in the mood to do some Goodreads Librarian editing, I will search either a topic or a name and use that as the starting point to look for errors. Today, I chose to look at MOOCs, a topic close to my heart for many reasons, not least of all because I fundamentally believe that education should not be restricted to the wealthy. The best course hands down that I have ever taken - free or paid - is Wesleyan's MOOC How to Change the World.
When I came across The Art Of Teaching: & The Threat of MOOCs, I was a bit perturbed but looked to see if this book were available for me to read as I don't like to dismiss an argument sight unseen. Said book is, however, £8 and, frankly, I don't even cough that much up for books I've been lusting after for a long time.* As I won't be purchasing it, I decided instead to have a look at Wilhelmsson's other books to get at least a little bit of an idea of his standpoint.
Although it is almost a given that a book called Will Abortion Make Me Happy? is going to be pro-life and I am pro-choice (which is NOT the same thing as being pro-abortion, contrary to popular belief), I decided to read the essay that the author linked to in a comment on a review. Said review commented on the book being short; it must be short indeed if this essay is all that is included as I read it in two minutes. The cover says "letters and essays" so presumably more is contained therein but this does rather diminish the author's comment r.e. the cost. Whether Wilhelmsson likes it or not, cost and value for money are factors in a reader's experience. There is nothing at all wrong in wanting to feel like you got your hard-earned money's worth. I feel, incidentally, precisely no qualms in referencing an author's comment. Authorial comments on reviews should be limited to "thanks for the review" or "thanks for pointing X out". Beyond that, all you're doing is creating awkwardness and making yourself look bad, à la Authors vs. Goodreads. It is not for an author to judge what a reader wants to see in a review.
The essay that I read gave no new arguments r.e. the morality of abortion and did not actually address the question asked. One of the fundamental rules of essay writing is that you answer the question - or at the very least, show possible answers. An author's four sentences about his own secondhand Catholic guilt** does not make an argument. A true argument looks at more than one side. This essay never does. A few phrases make Wilhelmsson's bias clear:
"so many of my students already understood the fact that ethically one cannot simply do whatever one wants with their own body" (Why on earth not, hmm? If you don't have the right of self-determination over your own body, then who does have the right to determine what you do with it?)
"I was quite likely going to cause one of my students to have to more closely face the truth about her or his own direct or indirect participation in Abortion" (Rather presumptive IMHO that "facing the truth" would be inherently a negative experience.)
"all of the factual truths about Abortion" (Has anyone pro-choice ever used such a superfluous phrase?)
"The students seemed to see all of the faults in the arguments for Abortion before I even had to bother to point them out." (bias, bias, BIAS)
"For once you know the truth about what Abortion really is and what it really involves you realize that no argument for it can truly be a sound one." (I will admit that I have not studied science at degree level but as far as I can tell, neither has the author. I did, however, study A-level Biology which went rather in depth into abortive methods so I'd say that I know more than the average person about abortion - the pill, injection, vacuum aspiration, D&C, D&E and so on. I'm fairly clear on what it is and what it involves. And would I say that any argument for abortion could still be a sound one? Absolutely. Several arguments actually.)
"For Abortion is not just an academic subject in our society today but a wound which needs the healing touch of Christ. "
A successful argument requires openminded examination of more than one perspective. This never happens. The essay shows no details r.e. the students' responses, least of all the glossed over half of them who presumably disagreed*** - I'd hope, at the very least, with the notion that "ethically one cannot simply do whatever one wants with their own body". It doesn't, to my utmost disappointment, examine the other side of the question either - 'Will not having an abortion make me happy?'. 'Will having an abortion make me unhappy?' I'm not trying to argue that all women who have had abortions are happy with the choice**** or indeed trying to present all the reasons that I am pro-choice*****. I'm not even going to go into the lengthy rant about men in ivory towers that often comes to mind when faced with this topic. I just wish that authors wouldn't come up with such lacklustre pieces of work and then expect unequivocal praise.
*I'm all about the secondhand book - good for the environment and the bank account.
**Or Christian, in any case.
***"Half of my students realized that, although the premises logically lead to the conclusion in this argument, the argument is unsound because both the premise "I can do whatever I want with my own body" and the premise "The fetus is part of my body" are not true."
****No choice exists which everyone is happy with but it would equally be incorrect to say that all women regret abortions.
*****That would be far longer than the actual essay I am reviewing.
When I came across The Art Of Teaching: & The Threat of MOOCs, I was a bit perturbed but looked to see if this book were available for me to read as I don't like to dismiss an argument sight unseen. Said book is, however, £8 and, frankly, I don't even cough that much up for books I've been lusting after for a long time.* As I won't be purchasing it, I decided instead to have a look at Wilhelmsson's other books to get at least a little bit of an idea of his standpoint.
Although it is almost a given that a book called Will Abortion Make Me Happy? is going to be pro-life and I am pro-choice (which is NOT the same thing as being pro-abortion, contrary to popular belief), I decided to read the essay that the author linked to in a comment on a review. Said review commented on the book being short; it must be short indeed if this essay is all that is included as I read it in two minutes. The cover says "letters and essays" so presumably more is contained therein but this does rather diminish the author's comment r.e. the cost. Whether Wilhelmsson likes it or not, cost and value for money are factors in a reader's experience. There is nothing at all wrong in wanting to feel like you got your hard-earned money's worth. I feel, incidentally, precisely no qualms in referencing an author's comment. Authorial comments on reviews should be limited to "thanks for the review" or "thanks for pointing X out". Beyond that, all you're doing is creating awkwardness and making yourself look bad, à la Authors vs. Goodreads. It is not for an author to judge what a reader wants to see in a review.
The essay that I read gave no new arguments r.e. the morality of abortion and did not actually address the question asked. One of the fundamental rules of essay writing is that you answer the question - or at the very least, show possible answers. An author's four sentences about his own secondhand Catholic guilt** does not make an argument. A true argument looks at more than one side. This essay never does. A few phrases make Wilhelmsson's bias clear:
"so many of my students already understood the fact that ethically one cannot simply do whatever one wants with their own body" (Why on earth not, hmm? If you don't have the right of self-determination over your own body, then who does have the right to determine what you do with it?)
"I was quite likely going to cause one of my students to have to more closely face the truth about her or his own direct or indirect participation in Abortion" (Rather presumptive IMHO that "facing the truth" would be inherently a negative experience.)
"all of the factual truths about Abortion" (Has anyone pro-choice ever used such a superfluous phrase?)
"The students seemed to see all of the faults in the arguments for Abortion before I even had to bother to point them out." (bias, bias, BIAS)
"For once you know the truth about what Abortion really is and what it really involves you realize that no argument for it can truly be a sound one." (I will admit that I have not studied science at degree level but as far as I can tell, neither has the author. I did, however, study A-level Biology which went rather in depth into abortive methods so I'd say that I know more than the average person about abortion - the pill, injection, vacuum aspiration, D&C, D&E and so on. I'm fairly clear on what it is and what it involves. And would I say that any argument for abortion could still be a sound one? Absolutely. Several arguments actually.)
"For Abortion is not just an academic subject in our society today but a wound which needs the healing touch of Christ. "
A successful argument requires openminded examination of more than one perspective. This never happens. The essay shows no details r.e. the students' responses, least of all the glossed over half of them who presumably disagreed*** - I'd hope, at the very least, with the notion that "ethically one cannot simply do whatever one wants with their own body". It doesn't, to my utmost disappointment, examine the other side of the question either - 'Will not having an abortion make me happy?'. 'Will having an abortion make me unhappy?' I'm not trying to argue that all women who have had abortions are happy with the choice**** or indeed trying to present all the reasons that I am pro-choice*****. I'm not even going to go into the lengthy rant about men in ivory towers that often comes to mind when faced with this topic. I just wish that authors wouldn't come up with such lacklustre pieces of work and then expect unequivocal praise.
*I'm all about the secondhand book - good for the environment and the bank account.
**Or Christian, in any case.
***"Half of my students realized that, although the premises logically lead to the conclusion in this argument, the argument is unsound because both the premise "I can do whatever I want with my own body" and the premise "The fetus is part of my body" are not true."
****No choice exists which everyone is happy with but it would equally be incorrect to say that all women regret abortions.
*****That would be far longer than the actual essay I am reviewing.
July 13, 2017
I hate to give a pro-life book a bad review, but I didn't get a lot of useful info from this book. The author never really got into how his students reacted to the issue, or how he/they answered the title question. I was also frustrated by all the typos in the book. There were places where he used the wrong word, or forgot a comma, or skipped a word. And he's a professor, someone who knows how to write, I assume. So it must be sloppy proofreading. Also, the book was very short. Yes, it was 109 pages, but the font was huge. It would have been maybe 30 pages if normal font was used. So I was disappointed and did not feel that I had gotten my money's worth.
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