Abortion as a Contemporary Moral Issue & Judith Jarvis Thomson’s A Defense of Abortion Phil 240, Introduction to Ethical Theory, W9L1 Benjamin Visscher Hole IV

Today’s Overview Admin Clicker Quiz Review main takeaways about ethical theory from last week and transition to applied ethics Thomson

Clicker Quiz

According to Thomson, most opposition to abortion relies on: religious arguments. the premise that the fetus is a person from the moment of conception. the premise that killing is always wrong. an appeal to emotion. all of the above. none of the above.

she believes it is true, and uses it as an assumption. What attitude does Thomson take toward the claim that a fetus is a person (with the right to life) from the moment of conception? she believes it is true, and uses it as an assumption. she believes it is true, but asks what would follow if it were false. she believes it is false, and ignores it. she believes it is false, but asks what would follow if it were true. none of the above.

The case of the violinist is meant to show that: abortion is always morally permissible. not everyone has a right to life. the right to life does not entail the right not to be killed. everyone has a right to the bare minimum needed to keep them alive. none of the above.

Administrative issues Week 9 overview Grading Questions

Week Overview Monday, Thomson and Broader Issues Tuesday, Thomson and Hursthouse Wednesday, Hursthouse and Broader Issues Thursday, Course Evaluations and Final Review Friday, Final Examination

Grading Questions Grading Allocation Grading Conversion Grade Category Percentage Range Grade Point Range Good to Very Good A range   90+ 3.6+ Satisfactory to Good B range 80+ 3.2+ Satisfactory C range 70+ 2.8+ Unsatisfactory D range 60+ 2.4+ Failure F range 59 and below 2.3 and below Participation 5% Daily Quizzes 20% Assignments 25% Final Paper 35% Final Exam 15%

Dates Required Readings Recommended Readings Week One: June 24-28 Why be moral? Moral Theory Primer Syllabus Plato, 65-78 Timmons (electronic) Shafer-Landau, 1-17 Shafer-Landau, 289-305 Concepción (electronic) Week Two: July 1-5 Social Contract Theory and Collective Action Problems Hobbes, 236-247 Hardin (electronic) Vaughn, “How to Read an Argument” (electronic) Shafer-Landau, 201-213 Week Three: July 8-12 Utilitarianism Nozick (electronic) Bentham, 353-361 Shafer-Landau, 117-132 Shafer-Landau, 21-58 Week Four: July 15-19 Singer, 873-880 Mill, 362-383 Shafer-Landau, 133-153 Week Five: July 22-26 Kantian Ethics Kant, 313-352   O’Neil (electronic) Velleman (electronic) Shafer-Landau, 168-186 Week Six: July 29 - August 2 Assessing Utilitarianism & Kantian Ethics Anscombe, 527-539 Williams, 657-673 Wolf, 790-802 Stocker (electronic) Baker (electronic) Week Seven: August 5-8 Virtue Ethics Aristotle, 124-140; 146-147 Shafer-Landau, 252-271 Aristotle, 152-157 Week Eight: August 12-16 Virtue Ethics & Assessing Ethical Theory Nussbaum, 755-774 Note: Final Paper due August 12 Week Nine: August 19-23 Contemporary Moral Issues: Abortion Thomson, 817-827 Hursthouse, 849-862 Review for the final Note: Final Exam August 23

PHIL102b: Contemporary Moral Problems AUT2013, M-F, 1:30-2:20pm, SAV 130 This is a course in applied ethics. We connect various contemporary issues with ethical theory, in order to better understand the nature of these disputes. While there are many such issues, we concentrate on topics concerning sexual ethics, biomedical ethics, international ethics, and social/political ethics.

Ethical Theory and Contemporary Moral Problems Review last week and transition to applied ethics

Main concerns for assessing ethical theory How to respond to the immoralist challenge? Broader appeal to interests or reciprocity Indirection or egoism? Problems for Modern Moral Philosophy Integrity Psychologically impoverished, etc. (Anscombe) Practical Guidance and Explanatory Power Moral Dilemmas Universality and Context-Sensitivity Watson’s Dilemma Moral Indeterminancy Circularity Demandingness Problems

In light of these concerns, which ethical theory is the best? Social contractarianism (Glaucon and Hobbes) Kantian deontology Bentham’s hedonistic utilitarianism Mill’s hedonistic utilitarianism Aristotle’s virtue ethical theory Nussbaum’s virtue ethical theory

Timmons Theory Practice “The theoretical aim of moral theory is to discover those underlying features of actions, persons, and other items of moral evaluation that make them right or wrong, good or bad and thus explain why such items have the moral properties they have. Features of this sort serve as moral criteria of the right and the good” (3-4). “The practical aim of a moral theory is to offer practical guidance for how we might arrive at correct or justified moral verdicts about matters of moral concern – verdicts which we can then use to help guide choice” (4).

Abortion Overview Context of the contemporary moral issue Thomson’s argument

Pope John Paul II “The Unspeakable Crime of Abortion” A fetus is a person with the right to life. It is morally wrong to kill a person with the right to life. Therefore, it is morally wrong to kill a fetus. (Abortion is immoral.)

A fetus is a person with the right to life. Strongly Agree Agree Somewhat Agree Neutral Somewhat Disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree

Mary Anne Warren “On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion” A fetus is a person with the right to life. Moral Standing? consciousness, rationality, self-motivated activity, capacity to communicate, and self-awareness.

Moral Standing A fetus is a person with the right to life. Although she disagrees, Thomson concedes this premise for the sake of argument.

The Right to Life A fetus is a person with the right to life. It is morally wrong to kill a person with the right to life. Therefore, it is morally wrong to kill a fetus. (Abortion is immoral.) Rather, Thomson takes issue with the second premise.

It is morally wrong to kill a person with the right to life. Strongly Agree Agree Somewhat Agree Neutral Somewhat Disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree

The Right to Life Either a fetus is a person with the right to life or not. If a fetus is a person, then abortion is not impermissible. If a fetus is not a person, then abortion is not impermissible. Either way, abortion is not impermissible. Thomson’s Main Argument