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Published on: September 16, 2015
No Need to Feel
1University of Brasilia, Brazil.
Summary
This article introduces five arguments challenging the notion that non-sentience alone justifies abortion. It suggests alternative ethical considerations beyond fetal sentience for pro-abortion viewpoints.
Area of Science:
- Ethics
- Philosophy of Medicine
- Bioethics
Background:
- The ethical debate surrounding abortion often centers on fetal sentience.
- Non-sentience is frequently proposed as a sufficient condition to deem abortion morally permissible.
Purpose of the Study:
- To present five distinct arguments against non-sentience as a sufficient condition for the moral permissibility of abortion.
- To explore alternative ethical frameworks for evaluating abortion.
Main Methods:
- Philosophical argumentation
- Ethical analysis
- Presentation of five specific arguments: formal paradox, third-person, abortionist status, implicit antinatalist premise, and manipulation.
Main Results:
- Non-sentience is not a sufficient condition for abortion to be considered morally permissible.
- The presented arguments challenge common pro-abortion reasoning based solely on non-sentience.
- Alternative ethical considerations beyond sentience are relevant to abortion debates.
Conclusions:
- Ethical evaluations of abortion should not solely rely on the criterion of non-sentience.
- The five arguments presented offer new perspectives for pro-abortion discourse.
- Non-sentience is neither a sufficient nor a necessary condition for arguing abortion is not immoral.
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