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Beginning Lives
Rosalind Hursthouse (Author)
9780631153283, Wiley
Paperback / softback, published 24 September 1987
388 pages
25 x 20 x 1.5 cm, 0.51 kg
In this text book Rosalind Hursthouse examines the complex questions surrounding the morality of abortion. Beginning by discussing the moral status of the foetus, she outlines and criticizes the main philosophical liberal positions on abortion, discussing alsl their bearing on the related issues of ifanticide, foetal research, surrogacy, murder and our treatment of animals. In place of the currently prevailing positions, the author offers a novel approach to these issues based on the recently revived theory of neo-Aristotelianism which emphasizes moral virtues and vices. A central element of Beginning Lives is its emphasis on the special nature of abortion: its unique relation to the facts of women's pregnancies and hence to our attitudes to childbearing, motherhood, maturity and sexual relations.
Preface x Acknowledgements xiv CHAPTER ONE Introduction: the issues, their context and strategy 1 1 Preliminaries 1 2 Moral philosophy: what does it yield? 4 3 Morality, legislation and abortion 12 CHAPTER Two The moral status of the fætus 27 1 Introduction 27 2 The conservative view 31 3 The extreme liberal view 47 1 The animal view 59 2 The mixed strategy 65 3 The potentiality view 72 4 Conclusions 85 CHAPTER THREE Trying to prove the fætus does not matter 89 1 Introduction 89 2 'Person' as opposed to 'human being' 91 3 Speciesism 101 4 Tooley on abortion 107 5 The person view and infanticide 118 6 The person view and other issues 123 CHAPTER FOUR Utilitarianism: abandoning the sanctity of life 131 1 The utilitarian position 131 2 Utilitarianism and animals 147 3 Modifying utilitarianism 158 4 The role of side-effects: a side issue 172 CHAPTER FIVE Women's rights and wrongs 178 1 Introduction 178 2 Thomson's arguments 182 3 Discussion and further criticisms 194 4 Abortion as special 204 CHAPTER SIX Neo-Aristotelianism 218 1 Introduction 218 2 The theory outlined 220 3 The theory applied to animals 237 4 The theory applied to aliens 247 CHAPTER SEVEN What is wrong with utilitarianism 260 1. What morality requires 260 2. Benevolence and the other virtues 278 CHAPTER EIGHT The special position of women 293 1. The average woman 295 2. Bearing children as intrinsically worthwhile 307 1 What morality requires 260 2 Benevolence and the other virtues 278 CHAPTER EIGHT The special position of women 293 1 The average woman 295 2 Bearing children as intrinsically worthwhile 307 3 Surrogacy 318 4 Abortion 330 APPENDIX ONE Human development 340 APPENDIX Two Methods of abortion 344 APPENDIX THREE Methods of overcoming APPENDIX FOUR infertility 346 The Warnock Report' 352 Glossary 356 Index 359
Subject Areas: Society & culture: general [JF]
