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Summary Of A Defense Of Abortion Thomson

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In her paper, "A Defense of Abortion," Judith Jarvis Thomson engages in a nuanced exploration of the moral aspects surrounding abortion, specifically addressing the common opposition based on the belief that a fetus is a human being with an inherent right to life from the moment of conception. Thomson constructs a series of thought experiments and logical scenarios to dissect and challenge the anti-abortion stance. Thomson begins by questioning the logical connection between the belief in fetal personhood and the conclusion that abortion is morally impermissible. She argues that even if one accepts that the fetus is a person with a right to life, it does not necessarily follow that the mother's right to bodily autonomy should be overridden. …show more content…

By challenging the widely held premise that a fetus, considered a human being from conception, possesses an absolute and unassailable right to life, Thomson invites readers to reconsider their perspectives on this divisive issue. This analysis will delve into the intricacies of her argument, examining key premises, the ultimate conclusion, and evaluating the validity and soundness of Thomson's rationale. Premises: The Fetus as a Person: Thomson begins by acknowledging the prevalent belief that every person possesses an inherent right to life. However, she adopts, for the sake of argument, the assumption that a fetus is a person, setting the foundation for a nuanced examination of the implications of this right. The pervasive belief in the absolute right to life for a fetus becomes a focal point of Thomson's scrutiny. While acknowledging this prevailing notion, she challenges its unqualified nature. Employing compelling thought experiments, such as the scenario involving an unconscious violinist, Thomson endeavors to illustrate that even if a fetus possesses a right to life, it does not automatically translate into an unbounded right to use another person's body. Mother's Right to Bodily Autonomy: Introducing the premise that an individual, particularly a pregnant woman, has the right to decide what transpires in and …show more content…

Those who prioritize a woman's right to control her own body and question the absoluteness of the right to life for a fetus may endorse Thomson's reasoning. They may appreciate her acknowledgment of the complexities inherent in the abortion debate and the application of her arguments to real-world scenarios, such as pregnancies resulting from rape or situations endangering the mother's life. On the other hand, critics may raise concerns about Thomson's initial acceptance of fetal personhood for the sake of argument, asserting that it complicates the moral landscape. Those firmly committed to the belief in an absolute right to life for a fetus may find her challenges unconvincing, maintaining that the right to life should be inherent and not subject to conditions presented in thought experiments. Ethical concerns might be expressed about the analogies used, such as the unconscious violinist scenario, with critics contending that they oversimplify the moral complexities of pregnancy. A middle-ground perspective could appreciate Thomson's effort to introduce nuance into the abortion debate while questioning how well her arguments apply to the full spectrum of abortion cases. Individuals in this stance might emphasize the

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Elizabeth’s strong pro-choice values along with her parallel stance in Judith Jarvis Thomson’s “Defense of Abortion” are core factors in her belief that abortion can be both morally permissible and impermissible given the circumstances in specific situations. In Elizabeth’s attempt to persuade her husband Tom to agree that terminating the pregnancy is morally permissible, Elizabeth’s best argument would be employ their like-minded beliefs to create justification and highlight her defense. Thomson’s argument that a human being has a right to determine what is does with their own body, even when there is no threat to life, is a direct reflection of Elizabeth’s defense. In explaining her desire to have abortion, Elizabeth can apply Thomson’s violinist analogy to illustrate and align her and her husband’s differing views of morality.

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On the opposite side of the level headed discussion, Thomson's contention is effective and greatly convincing. She has spent more exertion persuading the perusers of her new meaning of the privilege to-life idea rather than simply assaulting all the option choices like Marquis did. Thomson's utilization of test musings was a superb technique to pass on her contemplations without the limitation and uneasiness regularly connected with a delicate, sensitive subject like fetus

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In “A Defense of Abortion” Judith Jarvis Thomson argues that abortion is not always immoral, even when we assume for the sake of argument that a fetus is an innocent person. In cases of rape and even some cases of protected consensual sex, Thomson says it is not immoral for a woman to kill a fetus by denying it use of her body. There are two pieces to Thompson’s argument. First, she rejects the common assumption that to kill an innocent person is always morally wrong. And she uses a clever counterexample (the violinist) to show that even aside from the case where you would need to kill an innocent person to save your own life, it is not always morally wrong to kill someone by denying him use of your body when he needs it to live.

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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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Abortion Defense Author’s name Institution Affiliation ABORTION DEFENSE Abortion remains a contentious issue in the current society. Various arguments have been developed, either for or against abortion. Most of these arguments rely on the premise on whether a fetus is a human being from the moment of conception. Thompson (2003) presents a violinist fictional case whose moral relevance complements the permissibility of abortion in a moral society. The violinist example is as follows; a famous violinist has been diagnosed with a fatal kidney ailment, and it is discovered from medical records that only you has the blood characteristics that correspond to his.

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The permissibility of abortion is a topic of popular debate. The discussions presented by Judith Jarvis Thomson and Rosalind Hursthouse provide two unique viewpoints on the matter. In her essay “A Defense of Abortion”, Thomson presents an argument for the moral permissibility of abortion even if the fetus is granted the right to life, and provides the famous violinist scenario, to illustrate that the right to life does not come with the right to use someone else’s body in order to survive. On the other hand, in the chapter “Women's Rights and Wrongs”, Hursthouse focuses on the concept of virtue and how it applies to the decision to have an abortion. Hursthouse believes Thomson fails to address ways in which abortion is permissible because she

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Thomson hints to the idea that every human being has a right to life; therefore, the woman would have no moral obligation to continue with the pregnancy (Warren 309). Warren places much emphasis on Thomson’s argument for the probability of it being a strong stance for the permissibility of abortion or a strong argument that abortion is murder, which is unique in and of itself because it has the possibility of arguing for or against abortion. Thomson construes two steps in which the moral status of abortion should be determined by. The first step is determining the true moral status of a fetus and the second is creating a distinguishable difference between the rights of the fetus vs. the rights of the woman (Warren 309). Warren structures her argument like that of Thomson’s by creating two steps which will support her stance that abortion is morally

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The termination of a fetus is thus seen as morally and ethically equivalent to murder, as it prematurely ends a life with potential for full human experiences and contributions. Pro-life supporters emphasize that human dignity and rights should be granted unconditionally from the point of conception, regardless of the circumstances leading to a pregnancy or the developmental stage of the fetus. This principle underlies their advocacy for legal and social protections for the unborn, reflecting a commitment to uphold the sanctity and value of life across all stages of human development. Thomson challenges this view with a striking analogy: if one leaves a window open to cool the house and a burglar enters, it is unreasonable to expect the homeowner to accommodate the intruder simply because their action facilitated the entry. Similarly, if a woman uses contraception that fails, Thomson argues it would be unreasonable to force her to continue the pregnancy.

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Judith Thomson provides an analogy comparing the process of a mother experiencing childbirth to a mother supporting a famous violinist life by her own heartbeat. In the analogy, Thomson states that the mother has been hooked up to a famous, unconscious violinist via their circulatory systems. She was hooked up to the violinist against her will by the Society of Music lovers. The author explains that for nine months the mother would be responsible for using her body to bring the violinist back to consciousness. The analogy argues that a human’s right to life is more important than a woman’s right to her body; a violinist is a human, and therefore a violinist’s right to live is more important than a woman’s right to her body.

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After that it is shown, in Warren’s article, that a fetus does not resemble a human, it is then up to the mother to make her own decision about her body and what she wants to do with it. The mother has the right to make these calls, which shows that rights-based theory relates to this issue on

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On abortion in chapter three, Robert says, “The scientific evidence establishes the fact that each of us was, from conception, a human being. Science, not religion, vindicates this crucial premise of the pro-life claim. From there it is no avoiding the conclusion that deliberate feticide is a form of homicide.” (George 73). Dr. George also notes that today’s debate on abortion is not about cases in which the life of the mother is at stake, but rather about elective or selective abortion.

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