(June 24, 2022 at 11:47 pm)bennyboy Wrote: It's still not a person in any way that really matters-- it hasn't hit that higher echelon of thought which is the only real distinguishing factor between humans and animals.
Again, I understand that this is your position. That to be a person "in any way that really matters" is to have a "higher echelon of thought."
Some people who oppose abortion think that personhood begins before this "higher echelon" develops.
Quote:I'd ask YOU for a rational explanation-- why is one killing okay, and the other not? Is the reason not that, as a member of a social species, you have an emotional predisposition toward other members of the species, rather than a solid rational position?
Earlier I was saying that in order to have a fair debate with someone, we have to be able to state our opponent's position in language that he would agree with.
It isn't fair to say that all anti-abortion people rely on 1) cuteness, or 2) emotional dispositions toward similarity. To assume that they do would be to ignore, for example, the arguments from potency and act. Since such arguments are ancient and are assumed by many people to be rational, anyone who claims to be able to state anti-abortion reasoning in fair terms would need to be aware of this.
