1. Warren on Abortion
Feb. 27 and Mar. 1
Warren on Abortion
Ethics 1

2. Overview of Essay: 5 Sections
Warren on Abortion
Feb. 27 and Mar. 1
Overview of Essay: 5 Sections
Criticism of Noonan’s claim that “the fetus is human.”
Warren’s own criteria for personhood
Warren answers these 3 objections
Even if the fetus is not a person, it has moral standing because it is is like a person.
Even if the fetus is not a person, its being a potential person gives it moral standing.
Postscript: Based on Warren’s criteria, an infant is not a person so it would be morally okay to kill infants. (Attempt to reduce Warren’s position to absurdity.)
Ethics 3

3. What is “moral status” of fetus?
Warren on Abortion
Feb. 27 and Mar. 1
What is “moral status” of fetus?
Different ways of asking same thing:
Is the fetus morally considerable?
Is it a member of the “moral community”?
Do we have direct obligations to the fetus?
Does the fetus have “moral standing”?
Ethics 4

4. Moral Considerability and the Theories* (Review)
If something is morally considerable…
For utilitarian:
That thing is counted when calculating plus and minus points
For rights-based nonconsequentialist like Warren:
It is the kind of thing that can have rights

5. Noonan’s Equivocation
Warren on Abortion
Feb. 27 and Mar. 1
Noonan’s Equivocation
It is immoral to kill innocent human beings
The fetus is an innocent human being.
Therefore, it is immoral to kill fetuses.
Ethics 5

6. Example of Equivocation
Warren on Abortion
Feb. 27 and Mar. 1
Example of Equivocation
All stars (including our own sun) weigh more than 1,000 tons and are extremely hot.
Madonna is a star.
Therefore, Madonnia weighs more than 1,000 tons and is extremely hot.
Ethics 6

7. Warren on Abortion
Feb. 27 and Mar. 1
Two senses of human
Biological or genetic humanity: homo sapiens, human genetic code.
“Moral humanity”; that is, “human” for purposes of moral standing. In other words, morally considerable.
Warren: to avoid confusion, let’s call the “moral” sense of “human” PERSON.
Ethics 7

8. Noonan’s Equivocation
Warren on Abortion
Feb. 27 and Mar. 1
Noonan’s Equivocation
It is immoral to kill innocent persons.
The fetus is an innocent human being.
Hidden premise?
Therefore, it is immoral to kill fetuses.
Ethics 8

9. Noonan’s Equivocation
Warren on Abortion
Feb. 27 and Mar. 1
Noonan’s Equivocation
It is immoral to kill innocent persons.
The fetus is an innocent human being.
All human beings are persons.
Therefore, it is immoral to kill fetuses.
Ethics 8

10. Warren’s Own Criteria of Personhood
Warren on Abortion
Feb. 27 and Mar. 1
Warren’s Own Criteria of Personhood
Consciousness and in particular the capacity to feel pain
Reasoning: the developed capacity to solve new and relatively complex problems
Self-motivated activity
Capacity to communicate
Capacity for self-awareness
Ethics 9

11. Warren on Abortion
Feb. 27 and Mar. 1
Fetus Is Not a Person
Any being that meets none of the five criteria is not a person.
At no stage during pregnancy does the fetus meet any of the five criteria.
Therefore, at no stage of pregnancy is the fetus a person.
Ethics 10

12. Warren’s Own Criteria of Personhood
Warren on Abortion
Feb. 27 and Mar. 1
Warren’s Own Criteria of Personhood
Consciousness and in particular the capacity to feel pain
Reasoning: the developed capacity to solve new and relatively complex problems
Self-motivated activity
Capacity to communicate
Capacity for self-awareness
Ethics 11

13. Quiz Question Use blue or black INK!
Warren concedes that the fetus, as a potential person, may well have some prima facie right to life. Yet we know that she regards abortion as morally permissible whenever a woman chooses.
In one clear sentence, what ethical principle does she use to explain why abortion is always permissible even if a fetus has some prima facie right to life?

14. Objection: Fetus Is “Like a Person”
Warren: it is not “like a person” in the morally relevant ways (her criteria).
True that it looks more and more like a person as it develops through pregnancy.
But this is not morally relevant. It only means the fetus evokes more of our emotions. That is not relevant.

15. A Different View on Emotion?
From Jane English, “Abortion and the Concept of a Person” (available on ERes)
Late stage fetus is similar to baby in our “psychological space”
A moral code must take this into account.
If it allows killing non-person fetuses that look like persons (babies), it disturbs the “coherence of sympathies” needed to protect babies.
“Horror story” in New York.

16. Does English Oppose Standard View on “Feelings”?
Does this argue against idea that ethics cannot be based on emotions?
Or is she just being a good utilitarian?

17. Objection: Fetus Is Potential Person
Maybe this just means it is a resource (not morally considerable)
No: it may have prima facie right to life
But rights of mother as actual person outweighs rights of potential person.

18. Space Explorer
My view on weird analogies: okay if similar in morally relevant respects to original issue
You are captured and alien beings want to break you up to make new people
What if your life not at stake but only a day (alien beings can make new people without killing you)?
Warren: rights of actual person outweigh rights of even many potential people.
Is this similar to pregnancy and abortion?

19. Is This Really the Right Principle? Omits Hierarchy of Rights
Actual people
Right to life
Right to important liberties
Right to minor liberties (e.g., freedom for one day or an hour)
Potential people
Right to life
Less important rights

20. Needed Principle?
Any right of an actual person, even the least important outweighs any right of a potential person, even the most important.

21. Postscript on Infanticide
Critic: if killing fetus as non-person okay, killing early infant would be okay too. Reduction to absurdity.
Warren: no, because mother cares about it (would be more like killing fetus mother wants).
Critic: but there are anti-abortion people who care about fetus
Warren: before birth, bringing fetus to term against mother’s wishes would violate her rights to “freedom, happiness, and self-determination”
After birth, no rights of the mother would be violated because she could have baby adopted.

22. Thomson on Abortion

23. Violinist Example
Would it be morally wrong to unhook violinist, thereby killing him?
Violinist is clearly a person with right to life.
Is staying in bed with violinist morally similar to pregnancy?

24. Abortion When Mother’s Life At Stake (sections 1-2)
OK to kill another person to save own life
If person A is trying to kill B, B can kill A
If person A tells B, “I will kill you unless you kill person C, it’s immoral for B to kill C.
Why?

25. Right to life. Must examine more carefully what it implies.
But Violinist Isn’t Threatening Mother’s Life When Are We Morally Obligated to Save Life of Another Person?
Minimal decency.
ALWAYS morally obligated to save a life when no real sacrifice
No reference to rights, commitment, invitation.
Right to life. Must examine more carefully what it implies.

26. But Violinist Isn’t Threatening Mother’s Life
But Violinist Isn’t Threatening Mother’s Life. How Does Thomson Respond to This?
The fetus is a person.
All persons have a right to life.
(Therefore) The fetus has a right to life.
Therefore killing the fetus is immoral (unless needed to save your life)

27. How Does Thomson Respond?
The fetus is a person.
All persons have a right to life.
(Therefore) The fetus has a right to life.
Needed: an understanding of what the right to life implies
Therefore killing the fetus is immoral

28. Two Obligations to Save Lives
Minimal decency: always obligated when the sacrifice is minimal (“no big deal”)
No consideration of rights, justice, invitation
Full term pregnancy is always more than minimal decency, but if pregnancy were an hour or day, minimal decency would require completion.
Respect rights
Completely independent of issues minimal decency
Thomson: fetus has a right to use mother’s body only if she has given fetus that right.
Mother gives fetus right to use her body only if she engages in voluntary sex without good contraception.

29. The Right to Life
As a positive right, it would imply an obligation to give person everything needed to stay alive.
Thomson: neither violinist nor fetus has this right against everyone.
Like Arthur, requires contract or commitment
Negative right: does right to life imply a right NOT to be killed?
Thomson: no, only a right not to be killed unjustly

30. Right Not to Be Killed Unjustly
Rape: mother has given the fetus no right to use her body. No “invitation”; thus killing is not an unjust killing (violation of rights)
Voluntary sex with contraception: fetus not invited, so not an unjust killing
Objection: having voluntary sex is itself an invitation.
Thomson: woman must take reasonable precautions to avoid pregnancy, not all possible precautions. (People seed analogy)

31. Reminders for the Essay
Study the checklist items as you write. Make sure you are following them.
The paper with checklist stapled is due at beginning of class on day paper is due.
The checklist must be studied and completed before class starts.