Pro-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
A Defense of Abortion In her argument on abortion, Judith Thomson discusses some major points about abortion. She deals with extreme cases and those extreme cases help us to realize a single perspective of abortion. For example, she talks about the violinist attached to you. In that example, you keep everything constant and focus on a single point, violinist being dead if you unattached him. This way of thinking would provide partial answers. That is, in real life moral issues are combined
Without legal prohibitions, women in Europe and the United States provided abortions and trained each other to perform the procedures. In the past century different states had begun to outlaw any procedure that would terminate or avoid pregnancy. In 1973(?) the United States Supreme Court asserted a woman's constitutional right to abortion in determining Roe v. Wade. After several decades of quiet disagreement, abortion has once again become a political hotbed. Under the direction of religious
Within the “Defense of Abortion,” Thompson insinuates an underlying principle, in which she highly values the principle of autonomy, as seen in her essay conversing the illegality of drug use. The implication of the principle of autonomy is an exercise of the belief that an adult is entitled to and has complete control over their body. Thompson’s argument begins with the willingness to take on the initial claim that nothing can be done to end a fetus’ life, insinuating that an abortion is impermissible
Abortion is "the intentional termination of a pregnancy which may include the loss of life of an unborn entity". During the eighth week of pregnancy, the development of the unborn entity known as the Fetus- an unborn offspring- begins, where brain activity becomes detectable. Note, the fetus is not considered Viable until the twenty-fourth week of pregnancy (S. Morris MarquisHO). According to Professor Steven Morris, a fetus becomes a person when it has sentience, viability, brain activity, self-consciousness
Extreme conservatives would have abortion made illegal. If we outlaw abortion it would not stop women from having them In “A Defense of Abortion” Judith Thomson does a good job of poking holes in the extreme conservative argument, she is a moderate liberal. Even though she is defending abortion she states there are still times when it is impermissible. . Her first analogy she compares a growing fetus to a famous violinist who has unknowingly been attached to a person’s circulatory system. Is the
permissible to have an abortion? If it is wrong to kill an innocent adult human being, then why is it not also wrong to kill an innocent fetus through performing an abortion? Now, looking at the two stances one can have on this act: a pro-choice or a pro-life. So then if killing an innocent adult human being is wrong, doesn’t that also make having an abortion morally wrong as well? The pro-choice followers are those in favor with having the right to your own body, making abortions permissible. Every
In “A Defense of Abortion” by Judith Jarvis Thomson, her main logical implication is that if a fetus is a person with a right to life, then abortion would still be morally permissible in cases of rape or contraceptive failure. She mentions that all of the arguments she makes are implying the fetus being a person from the moment of conception. If the fetus is not a person from the moment of conception, but only a “fertilized ovum or a clump of cells,” then abortion is okay. First, she brings up the
The Inviolability of human life is something that essentially all people hold to be true, whereas in the case of abortion the waters become muddied and discussion turns from peaceful conference too hateful rhetoric. Judith Thomson, in her paper A Defense of Abortion, allows for some leeway in order for a form of discussion to commence. Breaking down her opposition’s main talking points and allowing for one of the highly contingent positions to be true is the style in which she attempts to dismantle
her essay “A Feminist Defense of Abortion” Sally Markowitz addresses the Autonomy defense as not being feminist in nature. She comes to this conclusion by recognizing that the right to bodily autonomy is not just a female right but a right that is innate for every person, male or female. Markowitz then asserts that the human right to bodily autonomy in regard to abortion should not be a gender neutral defense. Many feminists have come to the conclusion that the Autonomy Defense works against women
In Thompson’s book “A Defense of Abortion”, it is clear to the us that Thompson believes that abortion is morally permissible given certain circumstances. One circumstance is rape. To defend her claim, Thompson provides us with unconscious violinist analogy. Since you were kidnapped and forced to aid the unconscious violinist, unplugging from him and killing him is morally permissible. Therefore, abortion is morally just if the fetus was conceived without consent, such as with rape. Regardless of
Mary Anne Warren and others argue for a liberal position on the abortion debate. A liberal view of abortion is roughly thought of as an idea that abortions should be able to be terminated at any stage in the pregnancy. In this paper, I will argue a defense of abortion, or a liberal view of abortion, using utilitarianism. I will then respond to a counterargument about the moral worth of the fetus. I will respond to this objection by looking at a strong argument by Marquis. Finally, I’ll conclude that
The 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. The typical anti-abortion argument is as follows: 1. Every fetus is a person, 2. Every person has the right to life, 3. Every fetus has the right to life [1,2], 4. Everything that has the right to life may not be killed,
'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
In A Defense of Abortion (Cahn and Markie), Judith Thomson presents an argument that abortion can be morally permissible even if the fetus is considered to be a person. Her primary reason for presenting an argument of this nature is that the abortion argument at the time had effectively come to a standstill. The typical anti-abortion argument was based on the idea that a fetus is a person and since killing a person is wrong, abortion is wrong. The pro-abortion adopts the opposite view: namely, that
Judith Thomson’s “A Defense of Abortion” is an essay where Thomson argues that abortion is not impermissible. To be even more precise, she argues for abortion should also be sometimes permissible, but she also grants that there are certain situations in which getting an abortion would be immoral. “Most opposition to abortion relies on the premise that the fetus is a human being, a person, from the moment of conception.” (Thomson, 48). She uses the rhetorical triangle to help her achieve her argument
One of the most dominant articles on abortion is Judith Jarvis Thomson’s “A Defense of Abortion.” The article was written in 1971. In her article, Thomson defends the thesis that the impermissibility of abortion does not follow from the premises: that the fetuses are a person and that every person has a right to life. Thomson argues that even if the fetus is considered to be a person, the fetus’s right to life will not always outweigh the mother rights to decide what happens in and to her body. She
Judith Jarvis Thomson's controversial essay: A Defense of Abortion, takes an imaginative approach to the debate of abortion being impermissible, making her paper one of the most reprinted essays of philosophy. Thomson uses atypical examples to combat the most common reason for abortion being unjust: the fetus being human and the mother having responsibility for it. It has been said to be the best possible defense of abortion, however, is Thomson’s argument unbreakable and not open to criticism? Thomas
Through a string of metaphors and well-thought-out arguments, Judith Jarvis Thomson, in her writing of "A Defense of Abortion," was able to delineate her position on whether all abortion is morally permissible in particular cases. She would like to make it clear that she does not feel like it should be permissible for you to do the action if it does not have the correct reasonings behind it. Thomson first creates an assumption that the baby is, in fact, a fetus is a person from the moment it was
In her essay, “A Defense of Abortion,” Judith Jarvis Thompson outlines the most common arguments that people defend, and explains her views regarding each of these. She shares numerous examples and situations that she believes will support her views. One of her most prominent arguments is that of whether or not a fetus has moral standing as a “person.” She highlights the so called “battle” between an innocent life, the fetus, and the bodily rights of the mother. Within this argument, Judith outlines