A Defense of Abortion by Judith Jarvis Thomson
analytical Essay
1081 words
'A Defense of Abortion' by Judith Jarvis Thomson In the article 'A Defense of Abortion' Judith Jarvis Thomson argues that abortion is morally permissible even if the fetus is considered a person. In this paper I will give a fairly detailed description of Thomson main arguments for abortion. In particular I will take a close look at her famous 'violinist' argument. Following will be objections to the argumentative story focused on the reasoning that one person's right to life outweighs another person's right to autonomy. Then appropriate responses to these objections. Concluding the paper I will argue that Thomson's 'violinist' argument supporting the idea of a mother's right to autonomy outweighing a fetus' right to life does not make abortion permissible. In her article Thomson starts off by giving antiabortionists the benefit of the doubt that fetuses are human persons. She adds that all persons have the right to life and that it is wrong to kill any person. Also she states that someone?s right to life is stronger than another person?s autonomy and that the only conflict with a fetuses right to life is a mother?s right to autonomy. Thus the premises make abortion impermissible. Then Thomson precedes to attacks the premise that one?s right to autonomy can be more important to another?s right to life in certain situations. She uses quite an imaginative story to display her point of view. Basically there is a hypothetical situation in which a very famous violinist is dying. Apparently the only way for the violinist to survive is to be ?plugged? into a particular woman, in which he could use her kidneys to continue living. The catch is that the Society of Music Lovers kidnapped this woman in the middle of the night in order to obtain the use of her kidneys. She then woke up and found herself connected to an unconscious violinist. This obviously very closely resembles an unwanted pregnancy. It is assumed that the woman unplugging herself is permissible even though it would kill the violinist. Leading to her point of person?s right to life is not always stronger than another person?s right to have control over their own body. She then reconstructs the initial argument to state that it is morally impermissible to abort a fetus if it has the right to life and has the right to the mother?s body. The fetus has the right to life but only has the right to a ... ... middle of paper ... ...ould assure the survival of twin A. I feel that Thomson?s argument was easily refuted although it was very imaginative and clever. It doesn?t seem that her idea of abortion only being wrong in the case of voluntary pregnancy will hold water too long. In my personal opinion I feel that abortion is generally wrong. I think that if the woman became pregnant through consensual sex, even if she did not want to have a child, abortion is wrong regardless of the contraceptive precautions that were exercised. In the terribly unfortunate case of rape I feel it is more than understandable for the woman to want to abort the fetus. Seeing how the fetus had no control over the situation it seems that they should be given the chance at life. Although it is very unfortunate for the woman to have to be in such a situation I think it would be in the best interest for everyone to have the child. Maybe someday the unwanted child could make a contribution to all of mankind. The one situation that is very complicated to me is in the case of the mother?s life depending on the fetus being alive. I feel that every individual situation should carefully studied while considering all possible outcomes.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes judith jarvis thomson's arguments for abortion in the article 'a defense of abortion'.
- Analyzes thomson's argument that fetuses have the right to life and that it is wrong to kill any person.
- Argues that it is morally impermissible for twin a to kill twin b if he has the right to life.
- Explains that the conjoined twin scenario throws a wrench into thomson's argument.
- Opines that thomson's argument was easily refuted although it was imaginative and clever.
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- Summary Of A Defense Of Abortion By Judith Jarvis Thomsonanalytical essayIn the Judith Jarvis Thomson’s paper, “A Defense of Abortion”, the author argues that even though the fetus has a right to life, there are morally permissible reasons to have an abortion. Of course there are impermissible reasons to have an abortion, but she points out her reasoning why an abortion would be morally permissible. She believes that a woman should have control of her body and what is inside of her body. A person and a fetus’ right to life have a strong role in whether an abortion would be okay. Thomson continuously uses the story of a violinist to get the reader to understand her point of view.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how judith jarvis thomson's paper, "a defense of abortion", argues that even though the fetus has a right to life, there are morally permissible reasons to have an abortion.
- Analyzes how thomson focuses on the premises that a fetus' right to life is greater than the mother's use of her body.
- Analyzes how thomson argues that abortion is permissible because it is solely to save the mother's life.
- Opines that it is not right for a third party to intervene in the mother's decision. a mother has ity over her own body so she gets to do what she wants with her body.
- Analyzes how thomson questions whether the fetus has the right to use the mother’s body for survival. thomson understands that depriving someone of something they need to survive is not right either.
- Explains that thomson thinks that when a woman voluntarily has intercourse and becomes pregnant, an abortion is not unjustly killing the fetus.
- Analyzes thomson's argument that it would be impolite to decline the violinist one hour of your life, but she doesn't believe it unjust. the good samaritan says that people should do what they can for a person who is in danger.
- Argues that unplugging the violinist and having an abortion are two separate situations. an abortion is an immediate death of the fetus.
- Explains that the violinist is dying because of his own circumstances of having kidney failure. the fetus is not in danger of dying when it is conceived.
- Argues that the fetus is related to the mother and the violinist is in no way related. thomson makes it out to sound like a pregnant woman is not allowed or capable of doing anything during the nine months of pregnancy.
1559 wordsRead More - Analysis of Thompson's Article, A Defense of Abortionanalytical essayPro-Choice: Analysis of Thompson's Article, A Defense of Abortion Works Cited Missing In Judith Jarvis Thompson’s article “A Defense of Abortion” she explores the different arguments against abortion presented by Pro –Life activists, and then attempts to refute these notions using different analogies or made up “for instances” to help argue her point that women do have the right to get an abortion. She explains why abortion is morally permissible using different circumstances of becoming pregnant, such as rape or unplanned pregnancy. Thomson’s main idea is to show why Pro-Life Activists are wrong in their beliefs. She also wants to show that even if the fetus inside a women’s body had the right to life (as argued by Pro – Lifers), this right does not entail the fetus to have whatever it needs to survive – including usage of the woman’s body to stay alive. To help argue her point, Thomson first begins with an analogy comparing an acorn of an oak tree to the fetus in a woman’s body.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how thomson disagrees with the pro –life argument, calling it a slippery-slope argument. thompson introduces her "violinist analogy."
- Analyzes how thompson uses the analogy to reject the view that the extreme pro – lifers hold that women don't have the right to an abortion.
- Analyzes how judith jarvis thompson compares a woman having sex with the knowledge she can become pregnant — to the burglar breaking into the house.
- Opines that thompson's article focuses too much on why the pro-life ideas are wrong, instead of why pro – choice is right.
- Analyzes how judith jarvis thompson's article "a defense of abortion" explains why abortion is morally permissible using different circumstances of becoming pregnant, such as rape or unplanned pregnancy.
- Analyzes how thompson compares a pregnant woman's body to 'a house', stating that the mother and the unborn child are not like two tenants in the house, and that abortion is not unjust.
- Analyzes how thompson uses analogies to illustrate the strength of her points and to weaken the arguments of pro – lifers.
1773 wordsRead More - The Ethics Of Abortion By Judith Jarvis Thomsonanalytical essayThe ethics of abortion is a topic that establishes arguments that attempt to argue if abortion is morally justified or not. Philosopher Judith Jarvis Thomson wrote a pro- choice piece called “A Defense of Abortion.” In this paper, she presents various arguments that attempt to defend abortion by relating it to the woman carrying the fetus and her right in controlling her body. On the other side of the spectrum, philosopher Don Marquis wrote a pro- life paper called “Why Abortion Is Immoral.” Ultimately, Marquis argues that abortion is immoral with rare exceptions because it is resulting in the deprivation of the fetus’s valuable future. He supports his paper by creating the future-like-ours argument that compares the future of a fetus to the
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how the ethics of abortion establishes arguments that attempt to argue if abortion is morally justified or not.
- Analyzes thomson's pro-choice argument in "a defense on abortion," which is mainly supported by analogies like the violinist analogy, burglar analog, and the people seeds analog.
- Analyzes how thomson shows that the violinist's right to life is being respected because of the use of her body.
- Analyzes how thomson's people seeds analogy relates to the idea of how consensual intercourse doesn't equal the fetus' use of the body.
- Analyzes how marquis argues that abortion is immoral because of the fact that the fetus' valuable future is deprived.
- Analyzes how marquis argues that killing a fetus is just as wrong as killing an adult, if not, even more wrong.
1549 wordsRead More - Response to Judith Jarvis Thomson's A Defense for Abortionanalytical essayResponse to Judith Jarvis Thomson's A Defense for Abortion Judith Jarvis Thomson, in "A Defense of Abortion", argues that even if we grant that fetuses have a fundamental right to life, in many cases the rights of the mother override the rights of a fetus. For the sake of argument, Thomson grants the initial contention that the fetus has a right to life at the moment of conception. However, Thomson explains, it is not self-evident that the fetus's right to life will always outweigh the mother's right to determine what goes on in her body. Thomson also contends that just because a woman voluntarily had intercourse, it does not follow that the fetus acquires special rights against the mother.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how judith jarvis thomson argues that abortion is permissible even if the mother knows the risks of having sex.
- Analyzes how thomson argues that a person has no right to be given the bare minimum that is needed for continued life.
- Analyzes thomson's argument that a woman has no more moral obligation to her unborn child than she has to strangers.
- Opines that one may unplug oneself from the violinist by shooting him in the head, cutting him into pieces, poisoning him, but he dies from his sickness.
- Analyzes how thomson contradicts herself at the end of the essay by saying that she does not agree with killing the unborn child.
- Argues that thomson's volunteerism is fatal to family morality, which has as one of its central beliefs that an individual has special and filial obligations to his offspring and family.
- Argues that the volunteerist thesis is contrary to what people think. the idea that to be committed to an individual is fatal to family morality.
- Argues that pregnancy and childbirth entail certain emotional, physical, and financial sacrifices on the part of the pregnant woman, but these are also endemic of parenthood in general.
- Explains that the sperm donor is not morally responsible for the child he inseminates into a woman, but is forced by an unjust court to pay child support.
- Analyzes how thomson misguidedly infers that all moral obligations to a child are voluntary. the father's responsibility for his offspring stems from the fact that he engaged in sexual intercourse that could result in the creation of another human being.
- Argues that even if the violinist doesn't have a right to his life, it's not morally permissible.
- Analyzes how thomson argues that the right to life includes not being killed by anyone unjustly.
- Argues that the unborn has a prima facie right to her mother's body. the womb is the natural environment for the violinist, whereas being artificially hooked up to strangers is not.
- Argues that thomson's violinist illustration undermines the deep natural bond between mother and child by making it seem no different from that between two strangers artificially hooked up to each other.
- Analyzes how thomson ignores the fact that abortion is killing and not merely the withholding of treatment. levin argues that there is an essential difference between abortion and the unplugging of the violinist
- Argues that thomson's argument is inconsistent with well-established family law, which presupposes parental responsibility.
- Argues that thomson's use of pregnancy as a nine-month involuntary imprisonment in bed skews the argument.
4806 wordsRead More - Philosopher, Judith Jarvis Thompson's A Defense Against Abortionanalytical essayMany are inclined to believe that the fetus has become a human being even right before birth and being brought into the world. A controversial topic around that surrounds the world, is the act of abortion permissible? Philosophers have seen this idea and tried to understand when in face is abortion permissible. Philosopher, Judith Jarvis Thompson, in her piece, “A Defense Against Abortion” explores the premise is abortion permissible in all cases. Throughout Thompson’s piece she draws multiple analogies to make her argument be seen through a different perspective. Thompson makes the claim that abortion is permissible even when in fact when a woman intentionally engages in sex and knowing what she is doing can have a high risk of pregnancy.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how judith jarvis thompson's piece, "a defense against abortion," explores the premise that abortion is permissible in all cases.
- Analyzes judith thompson's claim that abortion is permissible when knowing there is a high risk of pregnancy.
- Analyzes how thompson sees the argument differently in comparison to abortion. she believes that the woman's body is the house and allows for a man to come in and that leads to sexual activities.
- Argues that thompson's argument that abortion is permissible when knowing that there are high risks of getting pregnant is false.
- Analyzes thompson's argument that it is permissible to abort when the woman intentionally knows what is happening.
- Opines that thompson's claim that abortion is permissible when a burglar comes into the house will always be controversial.
1470 wordsRead More - A Defense Of Abortion By Judith Jarvis Thomsonargumentative essayThe topic of my paper is abortion. In Judith Jarvis Thomson's paper, “A Defense of Abortion,” she presented a typical anti-abortion argument and tried to prove it false. I believe there is good reason to agree that the argument is sound and Thompson's criticisms of it are false.
In this essay, the author
- Opines that judith jarvis thomson's paper, "a defense of abortion," presented a typical anti-abortion argument and tried to prove it false.
- Explains that the typical anti-abortion argument is as follows: 1. every fetus is a person, 2. every person has the right to life, 3.
- Argues that the definition of person according to merriam-webster dictionary is "a human being." thompson rejects the premise that a person develops from conception to childhood and eventually into adulthood.
- Refutes don marquis' argument that murder is wrong because it's depriving someone of their future and taking away their right to live that cannot be returned.
- Defends premise 4, "everything that has a right to life may not be killed," by paraphrasing the situation.
- Compares the case of abortion due to rape with that of a violinist, who is unplugging himself and trying to help him live.
- Concludes that thompson's criticisms of the standard anti-abortion argument are false. premise 1 stays true as life begins at conception, while premise 2 stays alive because murder is illegal and morally wrong.
1303 wordsRead More - The Debate Of The Permissibility Of Abortionanalytical essayThe permissibility of abortion has been a crucial topic for debates for many years. People have yet to agree upon a stance on whether abortion is morally just. This country is divided into two groups, believers in a woman’s choice to have an abortion and those who stand for the fetus’s right to live. More commonly these stances are labeled as pro-choice and pro-life. The traditional argument for each side is based upon whether a fetus has a right to life. Complications occur because the qualifications of what gives something a right to life is not agreed upon. The pro-choice argument asserts that only people, not fetuses, have a right to life. The pro-life argument claims that fetuses are human beings and therefore they have a right to life. Philosopher, Judith Jarvis Thomson, rejects this traditional reasoning because the right of the mother is not brought into consideration. Thomson prepares two theses to explain her reasoning for being pro-choice; “A right to life does not entail the right to use your body to stay alive” and “In the majority of cases it is not morally required that you carry a fetus to term.”
In this essay, the author
- Explains that people have yet to agree upon a stance on whether abortion is morally just. judith jarvis thomson rejects this traditional reasoning because the right of the mother is not taken into consideration.
- Analyzes how thompson's theses are strengthened by hypothetical and real-life examples. she disparages the traditional argument to cultivate a deeper analysis on the permissibility of abortion.
- Analyzes thompson's argument that it is not selfish to not pursue an action that leads to an enormous sacrifice. there is a significant difference between moral excellence and moral decency.
- Opines that thompson's argument has some weaknesses, such as she grants the idea that a fetus is person, and doesn't discuss the possibility of the mother opting to an abortion.
1114 wordsRead More - Thomson wishes to avoid getting complicated in a debate about the moral status of fetuses. The argument she wants to establish is that even if fetuses have a right to life this does not automatically outweigh a woman’s right to control over her body. So, with the famous violinist she indicates a human being which has a right to life. If we think fatal kidney disorders contradict that right. In Thomson view point there are three other morally significant factors involved in abortion in certain cases. The fetus depends on the mother’s body for complete survival, the mother has not agreed to the use of her body and pregnancies
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how thomson's example of the violin player is a good comparison with abortion.
- Explains that the violinist has a kidney disorder and can only survive if he is attached to our body.
- Opines that if there were a difference between killing and letting die in the bathtub example, one should say that jones' behavior was less unacceptable than smith's.
302 wordsRead More - Impermissibility Of Abortionanalytical essayThompson, a pioneer on the moderate side, suggests that abortion is in fact sometimes morally permissible. Her main goal was to not only argue for abortions permissibility, but to challenge some of the common arguments presented for the impermissibility of abortion. Explaining her goals, she argues that a fetus has a right to life. But the question is what does it mean to have the right to life? Well, in some cases, a right solely means entitlement and in other cases, it means a certain kind of claim that one has against another. Thomson presents that the right to life does not mean it is the right to have the bare minimum needed for survival. Presenting the famous violinist case, she explains the storyline of a person who wakes up and is attached to a famous violinist. If the individual decides to detach him or herself, the violinist dies unless they stay attached for several months to save him. This case symbolizes the correlation between abortion and rape. Meaning, having an abortion, like detaching from the violinist, is morally permissible in cases where the pregnancy is not wanted. Her argument, using the case, claims that abortion in the case of rape is in fact morally permissible. With is then clear that Thomson rejects that the fetus’s right to life outweighing the mothers right to decide what she wants. In other cases, abortion is an unjust killing. However, she does note her argument may not be satisfactory to all proponents of the moral permissibility of
In this essay, the author
- Explains that abortion is one of the most controversial issues around the world. it ends the pregnancy before the fetus can fully develop.
- Compares the viewpoints of conservative, moderate, and liberal views regarding abortion, stating that murder is morally wrong, while abortion is permissible whenever the pregnant woman wants it.
- Analyzes how thompson, a pioneer on the moderate side, suggests that abortion is sometimes morally permissible and challenges some of the common arguments for the impermissibility of abortion.
- Analyzes how philosopher don marquis argues that abortion is morally impermissible except in extreme cases. his main goal is to support his claim by using the theory of killing’s wrongness.
- Analyzes how michael tooley's liberal argument denies that a fetus is considered human, making it morally permissible to have an abortion.
- Analyzes the arguments presented by the philosophers, stating that a fetus does not have the concept of continuing self or mental substance, making his beliefs that abortion is morally permissible.
- Opines that tooley's liberal side of the spectrum is the one that is most plausible over others.
1078 wordsRead More - Thomson: The Thought Process Of Abortionanalytical essayWith the violinist, Thomson attempts to compare the thought process behind an abortion to a violinist receiving a kidney, with a kidnapped person forcibly donating the kidney. Similarly, a person who is pregnant may or may not be 'taken hostage' and forced, in whatever way, to become pregnant, and the idea of 'saving a life' in either the violinists or the pregnant person's case becomes blurry because of the other life being endangered in the process. The point being that the argument boils down to if a life can be saved, anyone else involved in the process of saving the life may not make a decision harming the failing or fledgling life, regardless of situation. The second argument of Henry Fonda suggests that though one thing may provide an
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how thomson compares the thought process behind an abortion to a violinist receiving kidneys, or kidnapped person forcibly donating the kidney, and henry fonda's people-seeds argument.
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