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Persons, Moral Worth, and Embryos

A Critical Analysis of Pro-Choice Arguments

  • Book
  • © 2011

Overview

Editors:
  1. Stephen Napier

    1. National Catholic Bioethics Center, Philadelphia, USA

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  • The book offers novel arguments and explores new territory on the abortion issue.

  • The book brings together a host of primarily analytical philosophers, public policy persons, and scientists to provide a comprehensive analysis of the abortion issue.

  • The book aims to tether its analyses to specific claims, thereby entering into a dialogue with abortion-rights advocates.

Part of the book series: Philosophy and Medicine (PHME, volume 111)

Part of the book sub series: Catholic Studies in Bioethics (CSBE)

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Table of contents (13 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xiv
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  2. Introduction: What Are Persons? What Is Valuable?

    • Stephen Napier
    Pages 1-16

  3. Philosophical Considerations

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 17-17
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    2. I Was Once a Fetus: That Is Why Abortion Is Wrong

      • Alexander R. Pruss
      Pages 19-42

    3. Brain Life and the Argument from Potential: Affirming the Ontological Status of Human Embryos and Fetuses

      • Jason T. Eberl, Brandon P. Brown
      Pages 43-65

    4. The Human Being, a Person of Substance: A Response to Dean Stretton

      • Francis J. Beckwith
      Pages 67-83

    5. The Concept of Person in Bioethics

      • Anselm Winfried Müller
      Pages 85-100

    6. Abortion and Virtue Ethics

      • Mathew Lu
      Pages 101-123

    7. Embryos, Four-Dimensionalism, and Moral Status

      • David B. Hershenov
      Pages 125-144

    8. The Christian Hypothesis

      • David W. Fagerberg
      Pages 145-161

    9. Fetal Interests, Fetal Persons, and Human Goods

      • Christopher Tollefsen
      Pages 163-184

  4. Scientific Considerations

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 185-185
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    2. Fetal Pains and Fetal Brains

      • A.A. Howsepian
      Pages 187-210

    3. A Biological Definition of the Human Embryo

      • Maureen L. Condic
      Pages 211-235

  5. Perspectives from Law and Political Philosophy

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 237-237
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    2. Public Reason and Abortion Revisited

      • David Thunder
      Pages 239-253

    3. Abortion, Sexual Markets and the Law

      • Helen M. Alvaré
      Pages 255-279

  6. Back Matter

    Pages 281-283
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Keywords

About this book

“Bioethicists have achieved consensus on two ideas pertaining to beginning of life issues: (1) persons are those beings capable of higher-order cognition, or self-consciousness, and (2) it is impermissible to kill only persons. As a consequence, a consensus is reached regarding the permissibility of both destroying human embryos for research purposes and abortion. The present collection aims to interact critically with this consensus. Authors address various aspects of this ‘orthodoxy’. Issues discussed include: theories of personhood and in particular the role of thought experiments used in support of such theories; the notion of an intrinsic potential and the moral relevance of having one; new formulations of the virtue argument against abortion rights; four-dimensionalism and abortion; the notion of moral status and who (or what) has it; scientific accounts of what a human being is, as well as addressing empirical evidence of fetal consciousness; and analysis of the public policy implications given the epistemic status of pro-choice arguments. Given the issues discussed and that the arguments in critical focus are fairly new, the collection provides a novel, comprehensive, and rigorous analysis of contemporary pro-choice arguments.”

Editors and Affiliations

  • National Catholic Bioethics Center, Philadelphia, USA

    Stephen Napier

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Persons, Moral Worth, and Embryos

  • Book Subtitle: A Critical Analysis of Pro-Choice Arguments

  • Editors: Stephen Napier

  • Series Title: Philosophy and Medicine

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1602-5

  • Publisher: Springer Dordrecht

  • eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and Law, Philosophy and Religion (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-94-007-1601-8Published: 22 June 2011

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-94-007-3659-7Published: 03 August 2013

  • eBook ISBN: 978-94-007-1602-5Published: 21 June 2011

  • Series ISSN: 0376-7418

  • Series E-ISSN: 2215-0080

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XIV, 286

  • Topics: Ethics

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