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Pros And Cons Of Don Marquis

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Prompt 1: Don Marquis argues that abortion is prima facie wrong because it deprives fetuses of futures of value. What is an objection that one could make against Marquis's argument? How might Marquis respond to that objection?

I'd like to say this up front: I am very pro choice. As such, I disagree with many different components of Don Marquis' argument. That said, I welcome others to reply with counterarguments.

First of all, Marquis argued that in order to understand wether or not abortion is wrong, one must analyze why killing is wrong instead of who counts as killing. It seems to me though that you can't disregard who counts as killing when discussing topics such as abortion. I understand that this makes the debate easier for Marquis, …show more content…

According to him, stating that fetuses are not people is based on the logic that fetuses are not rational. He then says that this lack of rationality is no reason to assert that they are not people. The reason why this argument fails is that pro choice individuals are not claiming that to be a human deserving rights one has to be rational. The point that many pro choice individuals are actually trying to make is that fetuses are not people because they don't have sentience, nor have they ever. They don't have brainwaves, nor have they ever. They don't have consciousness, nor have they ever. As a matter of fact, consciousness cannot emerge before 24 gestational …show more content…

This, according to Marquis, applies to abortion as well. He stated that the reason why murder is an issue is because "The loss of one's life deprives one of all the experiences, activities, projects, and enjoyments that would otherwise have constituted one's future." The way I see it, this is not the best explanation regarding why murder is wrong*. Even if it was the perfect explanation, it doesn't seem to help Marquis' argument as this doesn't apply properly to fetuses. Fetuses are not losing anything when they die. They have no hopes, aspirations, interpersonal relationships. etc. at stake. If the argument is that killing potential is wrong, then we can get nowhere.

Furthermore, as mentioned in a lecture video, the argument that murder is only wrong due to wasted potential could be used to say mensuration, male masturbation, and contraception are all wrong as they lead to the death of sperm or an egg. Marquis' has attempted to say that these things aren't immoral as an egg or sperm cannot grow on their own, but neither can an embryo. It feeds on the mother and would die if removed from the

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This happens when Marquis throws in the part about how it is wrong to take a human life; which may or may not be true, but if that is the case then killing a human cancer-cell culture is wrong. He uses that as an example, because he knows everyone will say that no killing a human cancer-cell culture is not wrong; he uses this to make a very clear point, that anti-abortion is too broad. Since he thinks this, does this make him a pro-choice? No, because he then goes on and says how a pro-choice’s argument is too narrow. A pro-choice person may say how it is only seriously wrong to kill only persons.

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For example, she addresses the assumption that a fetus has a right to life by arguing that this right cannot be absolute, since it would lead to ridiculous consequences. She writes: "If the right to life is absolute, then no woman has the right to remove a fetus from her body, even if it is threatening her life. Clearly, this is an unreasonable conclusion" (Willis, 2007) . By employing logical reasoning, Willis is able to highlight the weaknesses in the anti-abortion arguments, as well as expand the reasoning he utilizes when addressing abortion, as well as persuade his audience that a more nuanced and empathic approach to abortion is needed.

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Daily Inventory #4 In his article, “Abortion is Murder”, Dan Ridge argues that people focus on children that are born and do not focus on those who are in the womb. Ridge supports his argument by saying that an unborn baby in the womb is still a child, has a unique DNA, and that he or she should be valued as a human being. His purpose is to tell people that getting an abortion is wrong because you are still killing a human being in order to get people to think about the life they are carrying in their womb before having an abortion.

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An embryo or a fetus may not be a person yet, but it will end up becoming a person. It will start breathing, being able to feel pain, have a heartbeat, etc. That fetus has DNA and cells and was created by two living,

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Patrick Lee and Robert George assert that abortion is objectively immoral. One of Lee and George’s main reason for coming to this conclusion is that human embryos are living human beings. This essentially validates that abortion is indeed the process of killing a human. Another main point said by the two is a rebuttal to a common argument used in favor of abortion, which states that a potential mother has full parental responsibilities only if she has voluntarily assumed them. The rebuttal to this was that the potential mother does indeed have special responsibilities to raise the child.

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Don Marquis, a theorist on abortion, debated that abortion was morally wrong and that anti-abortionists should consider fetuses’ human beings (Jones & Kooistra, 2011). He stated the term “prima facie” which is Latin for “at first glance”, which means something is accepted as true unless proven to be untrue (Jones & Kooistra, 2011). In Marquis’s argument he stated that it cannot be proven nor disproven that a fetus is considered a living being.

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Marquis is an ethics and medical ethics philosopher. Marquis is currently professor of philosophy at the University of Kansas. His field works and advanced degree is enough for him to gain more trust from his audience. To bolster the credibility of his claims, Marquis quotes fellow experts and scholars throughout his article. For example, he quotes George Robert who stated that, “In the case of ordinary sexual reproduction, the life of an individual human being begins with complete fertilization” (188).

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In “A Defense of Abortion,” Judith Thomson argues with a unique approach regarding the topic of abortion. For the purpose of the argument, Thomas agrees to go against her belief and constructs an argument based on the idea that the fetus is a person at conception. She then formulates her arguments concerning that the right to life is not an absolute right. There are certain situations where abortion is morally permissible. She believes that the fetus’s right to life does not outweigh the right for the woman to control what happens to her own body.

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In Olson’s article on “Was I Ever a Fetus” he states that even scientists prove that embryos are not persons, “embryologists tell us that a human fetus that is less than about six months old cannot remember or experience anything, and has no mental capacities worthy of the name… One's psychological contents or capacities could not be continuous with those of a being with no psychological contents or capacities at all…nothing could be a fetus-or at any rate a fetus that cannot yet think-at one time and a person later on. No person was ever a fetus, and no fetus ever becomes a person”. If we say that a fetus is a human then we are saying that an acorn is already an oak tree and a seed is already a flower, although these objects have the potential to become something, they are not yet actually connected to that future object and therefore are not the future object, they are a whole different type of form. So as Olson explained in his article, since a fetus is not a person, especially because it is not aware of what is going on because it has no psychological contents, then it wouldn’t even matter if it was to be aborted, because it is not feeling anything, the only person feeling a thing is the mother, the carrier of the fetus.

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Essay On Why Abortion Is Immoral This article called “Why Abortion Is Immoral” written by Don Marquis argues and why abortion is prima facie impermissible. Marquis accesses both anti-abortion arguments and also pro-choicer’s claim to protect the legalization of abortion. My paper is going to understand and examine the the both sides arguments, and to attempt to recognize abortion is immoral.

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Abortion is not only a fluctuating concept in our society, but an ethical and emotional debate, as well. The image I have chosen presents concepts from a cultural and historical background, as well as presents an ethical, emotional, and logical appeal to the audience. The debate about abortion has simply been overblown and exhausted. The truth of the matter is, abortion is murder. Ending a life, whether innocent or guilty, is murder.

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VIII. Abortion is a really serious thing and should only be pondered after the persons involved have considered other alternatives such as give it to the other persons that in need of a baby as adoption. IX. I don’t believe that the abortion argument should be about rights, but about potentiality. X.

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A second reason why abortion is wrong is because it deprives the fetus from his future. When we decide to kill a fetus then we are taking away from him a future like ours. The argument is as follows : (1) it is impermissible to kill humans, who if lived, would have a future like ours, (2) if abortion is not done, the fetus would have future as we do have, (3) so it is wrong to kill the fetus (4) therefore abortion is impermissible. A similar argument was given by Don Marquis in his article “Why Abortion is Immoral”. He stated that what makes killing wrong is neither the effect on the murder, nor the effect on the victim’s relatives or friends, but the effect is on the victim himself.

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In fact, abortion is destroying the life of a child; therefore, it should be expressed as morally wrong, except when circumstances

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The termination of pregnancy by removing a fetus or embryo from the womb before it can survive on its own is called abortion. Nowadays, abortion is so common that more than forty percent of all women will perform abortion at some time of their reproductive lives. While this numbers are scary, what is more troublesome is that several countries support this dreadful act. Society is now considering this act of murder each day more normal, and position the mother 's rights before the baby´s rights. Killing an adult is no different than killing a fetus, both are genetically unique and were made by God.

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