Philosophy
Outside of philosophical circles, I'm sorry to say, arguments concerning the issue of abortion, for and against it, usually take place within the context of strong emotional prejudices rather than with the aim to develop a deeper understanding of the issue (not to say anything about the constant conflation of the moral with the legal question). Both sides frame the issue in convenient sound-bites: the sanctity of human life on the one side, and women's right to autonomy over their own bodies on the other. Both approaches are, in my view, rather narrow and one-sided: one side focuses only on the fetuses, while the other focuses only on the mothers. Good luck getting the other side to agree with you...
Interestingly, some of the most thought-provoking and promising arguments actually agree that the question of whether a fetus is a person is actually somewhat irrelevant, and in the following fascinating debate, you'll get to hear two professional philosophers, Peter Singer and Don Marquis, present well thought-out theories concerning the moral status of abortion. Agree or disagree with their views, they present a beautiful model of how issues as emotionally laden as abortion can be argued for in a cool and amiably rational fashion, developing in the process a better understanding and appreciation of the complexity behind this issue.
Hope your mind has been challenged and stimulated.
And if the video doesn't work for some reason, you can find the original here.
- So What Are These Ethical Issues Around Gay Marriage?
With North Carolina's enshrinement of bigotry into their state constitution and Obama's evolution to accepting the need for gay men and lesbians to receive fair and equal treatment under the law, there has been lots of talk about the ethical dilemma...
- Intelligent Design Is A Political Question, Not A Scientific One
This article is unbelievable. Christine Castillo Comer, the Texas Education Agency?s director of science, was forced out of her position for forwarding an e-mail to a list-serve for science educators announcing a local talk by Barbara Forrest. Let that...
- Why You Can't Depoliticize Abortion
Scott over at Lawyers, Guns, and Money has an interesting amplification of Dana's post on the futility of the calls to depoliticize abortion. Both are worth a read, but there is a crucial point missing from both of these, which I discussed here, that...
- Why Abortion Became Abortion
Last week, Aspazia wrote a series of posts, entitled "Missives from Grove," about her trip to Grove, Oklahoma to talk with people who remembered Dr. William Jennings Bryan Henrie, a country doctor who was arrested in 1962 for performing abortions. It...
- George Carlin - Pro-life, Abortion & The Sanctity Of Life
In my cursory and anecdotal study of human nature, I've noticed that those most loud and sure about their own opinions tend to love to vilify the views of others instead of fairly assessing and evaluating alternative points of view. Aristotle once...
Philosophy
Peter Singer vs. Don Marquis - Abortion Debate
Outside of philosophical circles, I'm sorry to say, arguments concerning the issue of abortion, for and against it, usually take place within the context of strong emotional prejudices rather than with the aim to develop a deeper understanding of the issue (not to say anything about the constant conflation of the moral with the legal question). Both sides frame the issue in convenient sound-bites: the sanctity of human life on the one side, and women's right to autonomy over their own bodies on the other. Both approaches are, in my view, rather narrow and one-sided: one side focuses only on the fetuses, while the other focuses only on the mothers. Good luck getting the other side to agree with you...Interestingly, some of the most thought-provoking and promising arguments actually agree that the question of whether a fetus is a person is actually somewhat irrelevant, and in the following fascinating debate, you'll get to hear two professional philosophers, Peter Singer and Don Marquis, present well thought-out theories concerning the moral status of abortion. Agree or disagree with their views, they present a beautiful model of how issues as emotionally laden as abortion can be argued for in a cool and amiably rational fashion, developing in the process a better understanding and appreciation of the complexity behind this issue.
Hope your mind has been challenged and stimulated.
And if the video doesn't work for some reason, you can find the original here.
- So What Are These Ethical Issues Around Gay Marriage?
With North Carolina's enshrinement of bigotry into their state constitution and Obama's evolution to accepting the need for gay men and lesbians to receive fair and equal treatment under the law, there has been lots of talk about the ethical dilemma...
- Intelligent Design Is A Political Question, Not A Scientific One
This article is unbelievable. Christine Castillo Comer, the Texas Education Agency?s director of science, was forced out of her position for forwarding an e-mail to a list-serve for science educators announcing a local talk by Barbara Forrest. Let that...
- Why You Can't Depoliticize Abortion
Scott over at Lawyers, Guns, and Money has an interesting amplification of Dana's post on the futility of the calls to depoliticize abortion. Both are worth a read, but there is a crucial point missing from both of these, which I discussed here, that...
- Why Abortion Became Abortion
Last week, Aspazia wrote a series of posts, entitled "Missives from Grove," about her trip to Grove, Oklahoma to talk with people who remembered Dr. William Jennings Bryan Henrie, a country doctor who was arrested in 1962 for performing abortions. It...
- George Carlin - Pro-life, Abortion & The Sanctity Of Life
In my cursory and anecdotal study of human nature, I've noticed that those most loud and sure about their own opinions tend to love to vilify the views of others instead of fairly assessing and evaluating alternative points of view. Aristotle once...