Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

If Abortion, then Infanticide.

David B Hershenov1, Rose J Hershenov2

  • 1Philosophy Department, University at Buffalo, 135 Park Hall, Buffalo, NY, 14260, USA. dh25@buffalo.edu.

Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics
|August 3, 2017
PubMed
Summary

Arguments justifying abortion also justify infanticide, challenging moral distinctions between fetuses and infants. This research explores the moral status of potential personhood to differentiate between morally significant and irrelevant potential, impacting the abortion debate.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

A naturalist response to Kingma's critique of naturalist accounts of disease.

Theoretical medicine and bioethics·2020
Same author

Pathocentric Health Care and a Minimal Internal Morality of Medicine.

The Journal of medicine and philosophy·2019
Same author

Why psychological accounts of personal identity can accept a brain death criterion and biological definition of death.

Theoretical medicine and bioethics·2019
Same author

Morally relevant potential.

Journal of medical ethics·2014
Same author

The metaphysical basis of a liberal organ procurement policy.

Theoretical medicine and bioethics·2010
Same author

Mandatory autopsies and organ conscription.

Kennedy Institute of Ethics journal·2010

Area of Science:

  • Bioethics
  • Moral Philosophy
  • Philosophy of Law

Background:

  • Philosophical arguments for abortion often rely on criteria that, if applied consistently, could also justify infanticide.
  • The moral status of fetuses and infants is a central point of contention in bioethical and philosophical discourse.
  • Existing arguments struggle to differentiate the moral significance of potential personhood in entities lacking current personhood characteristics.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To critically examine the logical consistency of major arguments for abortion.
  • To propose a novel framework for distinguishing morally significant potential from morally irrelevant potential.
  • To address the philosophical challenge posed by arguments that could justify both abortion and infanticide.

Main Methods:

Keywords:
AbortionHarmInfanticideMoral statusPotential

Related Experiment Videos

  • Comparative analysis of ethical arguments concerning abortion and infanticide.
  • Development of a new philosophical account of how non-sentient entities can be wronged.
  • Logical deconstruction of arguments based on intrinsic properties and relational status.

    • Main Results:

    • The study contends that major arguments for abortion are logically extendable to justify infanticide.
    • A novel distinction is proposed between morally significant and morally irrelevant potential for personhood.
    • The proposed framework aims to resolve the paradox of potentiality in moral philosophy.

    Conclusions:

    • If infanticide is not morally justifiable, then the arguments used to support it also fail to justify abortion.
    • The proposed account of potentiality offers a way to avoid the standard objection regarding the obligation to protect entities with potential personhood.
    • This research contributes a nuanced perspective to the ongoing debate on abortion ethics and the moral status of developing human life.