CAS PH 150
Introduction to Ethics
Midterm Exam
2024
Don Marquis: “Why Abortion is Immoral”
Thesis: the vast majority of abortions are immoral/wrong
Argument
o It is wrong to kill “us”
Us: adult, fully rational, conscious, innocent human beings
o What makes killing adult humans wrong is that it takes away a valuable future (“future
like ours”)
False Reasons Murder is Wrong
Murder causes pain
o Painless killing exists (i.e. murdered in your sleep), yet we still
consider it to be wrong
Murder causes pain to the people who lose the victim
o People can be killed that do not have anyone else in their lives
(ex: hermits), but we would still say killing them is wrong
Correct reason: “future like ours”
Future like ours: opportunity to have experiences, successes, failures,
love, projects, contributions, etc.
o Marquis says this is why we find the murder of children
especially wrong, since their futures are cut even shorter than
adults
o A fetus has a future like ours
o Abortion takes away that future
o Therefore, abortion is wrong
Potential Objections
o Contraception is wrong because you are preventing a future life
Marquis says contraception isn’t wrong because you aren’t preventing a “future
like ours”
A sperm/egg on their own aren’t a being with any kind of future
There are millions of sperm, so what individual future are you
, protecting?
Exceptions for Marquis
o If the mother’s life is at stake
You can have an abortion if you would take away the life of another adult
human in a similar circumstance
Ex: self-defense
Mary Ann Warren: On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion
Thesis: abortion is not morally wrong
Two senses of the word “human”
o Genetic/biological
, Have human DNA, homo sapiens
Includes adults, comas, infants, fetuses, petri dishes with human tissues, cancer
cells
o Moral
Personhood
Five Traits of Personhood
o Conscious and sentient
o Reasoning
developed capacity to solve new and complex problems
o self-motivated activity
self-directed choices and goals
o capacity to communicate on an indefinite number of topics
o presence of self-concepts and self-awareness
she claims that a person needs at least two of these traits to be a
person, and a fetus doesn’t even have one, so they aren’t persons
Potential Objections
o This argument of personhood makes infanticide acceptable
Wareen denies this, and says infants have indirect moral status
Like great works of art, they should be preserved because it would
cause persons with direct moral status great pain
o Fetuses have indirect moral status in some person’s eyes
Warren says that your right to control your own body is greater than any
indirect status anyone may place on a fetus
Infanticide does not create the same level of rights conflict because once
outside the womb, it is technically not solely dependent on the mother alone
Judith Jarrod Thomson: In Defense of Abortion
Thesis: abortion is permissible a majority of the time
o Strategy: grants, for the sake of the agreement, that the fetus is a person, but that
abortion is still okay
Famous Violinist Example
o You wake up attached to a famous violinist
o The violinist did not seek you out and choose to attach to you. You were kidnapped by
the Society of Music Lovers
o You can only keep the violinist alive if you stay attached to them in order to filter their
blood with your kidneys for nine months
o If you grant that if you choose to unplug, you shouldn’t receive a sanction (ie jail), you
grant that “unplugging” a fetus is not morally impermissible
Even though the fetus and the violinist have a right to life, that right is
outweighed by your right to choose
Introduction to Ethics
Midterm Exam
2024
Don Marquis: “Why Abortion is Immoral”
Thesis: the vast majority of abortions are immoral/wrong
Argument
o It is wrong to kill “us”
Us: adult, fully rational, conscious, innocent human beings
o What makes killing adult humans wrong is that it takes away a valuable future (“future
like ours”)
False Reasons Murder is Wrong
Murder causes pain
o Painless killing exists (i.e. murdered in your sleep), yet we still
consider it to be wrong
Murder causes pain to the people who lose the victim
o People can be killed that do not have anyone else in their lives
(ex: hermits), but we would still say killing them is wrong
Correct reason: “future like ours”
Future like ours: opportunity to have experiences, successes, failures,
love, projects, contributions, etc.
o Marquis says this is why we find the murder of children
especially wrong, since their futures are cut even shorter than
adults
o A fetus has a future like ours
o Abortion takes away that future
o Therefore, abortion is wrong
Potential Objections
o Contraception is wrong because you are preventing a future life
Marquis says contraception isn’t wrong because you aren’t preventing a “future
like ours”
A sperm/egg on their own aren’t a being with any kind of future
There are millions of sperm, so what individual future are you
, protecting?
Exceptions for Marquis
o If the mother’s life is at stake
You can have an abortion if you would take away the life of another adult
human in a similar circumstance
Ex: self-defense
Mary Ann Warren: On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion
Thesis: abortion is not morally wrong
Two senses of the word “human”
o Genetic/biological
, Have human DNA, homo sapiens
Includes adults, comas, infants, fetuses, petri dishes with human tissues, cancer
cells
o Moral
Personhood
Five Traits of Personhood
o Conscious and sentient
o Reasoning
developed capacity to solve new and complex problems
o self-motivated activity
self-directed choices and goals
o capacity to communicate on an indefinite number of topics
o presence of self-concepts and self-awareness
she claims that a person needs at least two of these traits to be a
person, and a fetus doesn’t even have one, so they aren’t persons
Potential Objections
o This argument of personhood makes infanticide acceptable
Wareen denies this, and says infants have indirect moral status
Like great works of art, they should be preserved because it would
cause persons with direct moral status great pain
o Fetuses have indirect moral status in some person’s eyes
Warren says that your right to control your own body is greater than any
indirect status anyone may place on a fetus
Infanticide does not create the same level of rights conflict because once
outside the womb, it is technically not solely dependent on the mother alone
Judith Jarrod Thomson: In Defense of Abortion
Thesis: abortion is permissible a majority of the time
o Strategy: grants, for the sake of the agreement, that the fetus is a person, but that
abortion is still okay
Famous Violinist Example
o You wake up attached to a famous violinist
o The violinist did not seek you out and choose to attach to you. You were kidnapped by
the Society of Music Lovers
o You can only keep the violinist alive if you stay attached to them in order to filter their
blood with your kidneys for nine months
o If you grant that if you choose to unplug, you shouldn’t receive a sanction (ie jail), you
grant that “unplugging” a fetus is not morally impermissible
Even though the fetus and the violinist have a right to life, that right is
outweighed by your right to choose
