A Theory of Unborn Life

A Theory of Unborn Life PDF Author: Anja J. Karnein
Publisher: OUP USA
ISBN: 0199782474
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 207

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Book Description
In light of biomedical technologies, such as artificial reproduction, stem cell research, and genetic selection, the question of what we owe to future persons is as contested as ever. Here, Karnein provides a novel theory that shows how our commitments to persons can help us make sense of our obligations to unborn life.

A Theory of Unborn Life

A Theory of Unborn Life PDF Author: Anja J. Karnein
Publisher: OUP USA
ISBN: 0199782474
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 207

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Book Description
In light of biomedical technologies, such as artificial reproduction, stem cell research, and genetic selection, the question of what we owe to future persons is as contested as ever. Here, Karnein provides a novel theory that shows how our commitments to persons can help us make sense of our obligations to unborn life.

Abortion and Unborn Human Life, Second Edition

Abortion and Unborn Human Life, Second Edition PDF Author: Patrick Lee
Publisher: CUA Press
ISBN: 081321730X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 193

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Book Description
Patrick Lee surveys the main philosophical arguments in favor of the moral permissibility of abortion and refutes them point by point. In a calm and philosophically sophisticated manner, he presents a powerful case for the pro-life position and a serious challenge to all of the main philosophical arguments on behalf of the pro-choice position.

Life Before Birth : The Moral and Legal Status of Embryos and Fetuses

Life Before Birth : The Moral and Legal Status of Embryos and Fetuses PDF Author: Albany Bonnie Steinbock Associate Professor of Philosophy & Public Policy State University of New York
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199759685
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 270

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Book Description
Hardly a day passes without newspaper coverage of some new development regarding prenatal life. The abortion debate continues to rage, but other examples abound: forced Caesareans; prosecutions of women for drug use during pregnancy; fetal protection policies; the use of fetal tissue for transplantation; embryo research; and the disposition of frozen embryos. All of these issues raise the question of the moral status of the unborn: are embryos and fetuses part of the pregnant woman or are they persons? Are they sources of tissue, research tools, or are they pre-born children? Different conceptions of the unborn prevail in different contexts, giving rise to the charge of inconsistency. For example, women have been criminally charged with abusing their fetuses by using drugs during pregnancy, even though abortion--which pro-lifers call the ultimate child abuse--is legal. The legalization of abortion itself was based in part on the unborn's never having been recognized in law as a full legal person. Yet fetuses have been considered as persons for the purposes of insurance coverage, wrongful death suits, and vehicular homicide. This book provides a framework for thinking clearly and coherently about the unborn. The first chapter elaborates the book's basic idea, that all and only beings who have interests have moral standing, and only beings who possess conscious awareness have interests. This thesis, which is called "the interest view," raises issues of considerable philosophical complexity, but is presented in language non-philosophers will be able to understand. Subsequent chapters apply the interest view, and explore the moral and legal aspects of a wide range of issues, including abortion, the legal status of the fetus outside abortion, maternal-fetal conflict, fetal research, and the use and disposition of extracorporeal embryos resulting from the new reproductive technologies. The philosophical discussion is enlivened by examples and actual cases which immediately catch, and sustain, the reader's interest. Written in a lively style, Life Before Birth: The Moral and Legal Status of Embryos and Fetuses is a timely and important work that enables us to resolve contradictions in our current thinking about the unborn, and to approach new issues in a clear and rational manner.

Beating Hearts

Beating Hearts PDF Author: Sherry F. Colb
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231540957
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 263

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Book Description
How can someone who condemns hunting, animal farming, and animal experimentation also favor legal abortion, which is the deliberate destruction of a human fetus? The authors of Beating Hearts aim to reconcile this apparent conflict and examine the surprisingly similar strategic and tactical questions faced by activists in the pro-life and animal rights movements. Beating Hearts maintains that sentience, or the ability to have subjective experiences, grounds a being's entitlement to moral concern. The authors argue that nearly all human exploitation of animals is unjustified. Early abortions do not contradict the sentience principle because they precede fetal sentience, and Beating Hearts explains why the mere potential for sentience does not create moral entitlements. Late abortions do raise serious moral questions, but forcing a woman to carry a child to term is problematic as a form of gender-based exploitation. These ethical explorations lead to a wider discussion of the strategies deployed by the pro-life and animal rights movements. Should legal reforms precede or follow attitudinal changes? Do gory images win over or alienate supporters? Is violence ever principled? By probing the connections between debates about abortion and animal rights, Beating Hearts uses each highly contested set of questions to shed light on the other.

Catechism of the Catholic Church

Catechism of the Catholic Church PDF Author: U.S. Catholic Church
Publisher: Image
ISBN: 030795370X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 849

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Book Description
Over 3 million copies sold! Essential reading for Catholics of all walks of life. Here it is - the first new Catechism of the Catholic Church in more than 400 years, a complete summary of what Catholics around the world commonly believe. The Catechism draws on the Bible, the Mass, the Sacraments, Church tradition and teaching, and the lives of saints. It comes with a complete index, footnotes and cross-references for a fuller understanding of every subject. The word catechism means "instruction" - this book will serve as the standard for all future catechisms. Using the tradition of explaining what the Church believes (the Creed), what she celebrates (the Sacraments), what she lives (the Commandments), and what she prays (the Lord's Prayer), the Catechism of the Catholic Church offers challenges for believers and answers for all those interested in learning about the mystery of the Catholic faith. The Catechism of the Catholic Church is a positive, coherent and contemporary map for our spiritual journey toward transformation.

Defending Life

Defending Life PDF Author: Francis J. Beckwith
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139466429
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 482

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Book Description
Defending Life is arguably the most comprehensive defense of the pro-life position on abortion - morally, legally, and politically - that has ever been published in an academic monograph. It offers a detailed and critical analysis of Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey as well as arguments by those who defend a Rawlsian case for abortion-choice, such as J. J. Thomson. The author defends the substance view of persons as the view with the most explanatory power. The substance view entails that the unborn is a subject of moral rights from conception. While defending this view, the author responds to the arguments of thinkers such as Boonin, Dworkin, Stretton, Ford and Brody. He also critiques Thomson's famous violinist argument and its revisions by Boonin and McDonagh. Defending Life includes chapters critiquing arguments found in popular politics and the controversy over cloning and stem cell research.

A Love for Life

A Love for Life PDF Author: Dennis R. Di Mauro
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1498274560
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 167

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Book Description
Is abortion ethical? The answer to this question is often obscured by rhetoric, slogans, and politics. And the media message on abortion is often of little help. When the typical American opens up her morning newspaper, she sees the topic debated between pro-lifers and pro-choicers but receives little information that could help her make an informed moral decision. And as she reads further about the subject, it seems that the Christian church, often an ethical guide in many of her decisions, is of no use to her. Sadly, she is told that the church is just as divided as the rest of society on the topic. So our average American is left to fend for herself. She must somehow decide the right answer with little guidance from society, from the church, or even from God himself. But is our average American really without guidance? Has she gotten all the information she needs about abortion, or has she received only the five-second sound bite that leaves her as confused as she was before she heard about the abortion debate? And has God been silent on the abortion question? Has the church really shown a diversity of opinion on the sanctity of life? A Love for Life will provide Christians with the biblical and historical information that they need to make an informed decision on the abortion question. It will also take a critical and biblically-based look at the arguments and theologies of today's most prominent pro-choice clergy. And it will determine if abortion really fulfills the will of God, as many pro-choice Christians believe, or whether abortion is a clearly sinful act. In short, readers of A Love for Life will discover the real message of the church on abortion.

The Ethics of Abortion

The Ethics of Abortion PDF Author: Christopher Kaczor
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780415884693
Category : Abortion
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Appealing to reason rather than religious belief, this book is the most comprehensive case against the choice of abortion yet published. The Ethics of Abortion critically evaluates all the major grounds for denying fetal personhood, including the views of those who defend not only abortion but also infanticide. It also provides several (non-theological) justifications for the conclusion that all human beings, including those in utero, should be respected as persons. This book also critiques the view that abortion is not wrong even if the human fetus is a person. The Ethics of Abortion examines hard cases for those who are prolife, such as abortion in cases of rape or in order to save the motherâe(tm)s life, as well as hard cases for defenders of abortion, such as sex selection abortion and the rationale for being âeoepersonally opposedâe but publically supportive of abortion. It concludes with a discussion of whether artificial wombs might end the abortion debate. Answering the arguments of defenders of abortion, this book provides reasoned justification for the view that all intentional abortions are morally wrong and that doctors and nurses who object to abortion should not be forced to act against their consciences.

Aquinas on the Beginning and End of Human Life

Aquinas on the Beginning and End of Human Life PDF Author: Fabrizio Amerini
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674073460
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 348

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Book Description
In contemporary discussions of abortion, both sides argue well-worn positions, particularly concerning the question, When does human life begin? Though often invoked by the Catholic Church for support, Thomas Aquinas in fact held that human life begins after conception, not at the moment of union. But his overall thinking on questions of how humans come into being, and cease to be, is more subtle than either side in this polarized debate imagines. Fabrizio Amerini—an internationally-renowned scholar of medieval philosophy—does justice to Aquinas’ views on these controversial issues. Some pro-life proponents hold that Aquinas’ position is simply due to faulty biological knowledge, and if he knew what we know today about embryology, he would agree that human life begins at conception. Others argue that nothing Aquinas could learn from modern biology would have changed his mind. Amerini follows the twists and turns of Aquinas’ thinking to reach a nuanced and detailed solution in the final chapters that will unsettle familiar assumptions and arguments. Systematically examining all the pertinent texts and placing each in historical context, Amerini provides an accurate reconstruction of Aquinas’ account of the beginning and end of human life and assesses its bioethical implications for today. This major contribution is available to an English-speaking audience through translation by Mark Henninger, himself a noted scholar of medieval philosophy.

Life's Dominion

Life's Dominion PDF Author: Ronald Dworkin
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0307787915
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Book Description
Internationally renowned lawyer and philosopher Ronald Dworkin addresses the crucially related acts of abortion and euthanasia in a brilliantly original book that examines their meaning in a nation that prizes both life and individual liberty. From Roe v. Wade to the legal battle over the death of Nancy Cruzan, no issues have opened greater rifts in American society than those of abortion and euthanasia. At the heart of Life's Dominion is Dworkin's inquest into why abortion and euthanasia provoke such controversy. Do these acts violate some fundamental "right to life"? Or are the objections against them based on the belief that human life is sacred? Combining incisive moral reasoning and close readings of indicidual court decisions with a majestic interpretation of the U.S. Constitution itself, Dworkin gives us a work that is absolutely essential for anyone who cares about the legal status of human life.