Human evolution: defining human personhood (Introduction)

by David Turell , Saturday, March 09, 2024, 19:18 (257 days ago) @ David Turell

A philosophy of humanhood:

https://evolutionnews.org/2024/03/the-humanity-and-personhood-of-an-embryo/

"At the heart of the abortion debate are two sets of questions: scientific questions and moral questions. They are both important, and much of the rancor and division in the abortion debate stems, I think, from conflation of scientific and moral issues. They are not the same. Properly formed moral views depend on correct scientific understanding. If we don’t know what a fetus is, scientifically, we are hampered in making sound moral judgments about its protection.

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"A sperm and an egg separately constitute a potential human. But when they unite, the result is a human being from the moment of fertilization. Human beings are not defined by the number of cells in the body — be it one cell or 30 trillion cells. A big complex human being is not more human than a small simple human being.

"There is no actual debate about this — the basic biology of human reproduction was understood in the early 19th century, and any doctor or scientist who denies the humanity of a human being in the womb is either ignorant or deliberately misrepresenting science to advance an ideological agenda. (There is a simple scientific answer to the basic question at the heart of the abortion debate. Whatever a “person” is, a human zygote is most certainly a human being.)

"The term “person” is a moral and legal category, not a scientific category, and it is a category open to moral discussion and debate. But “human being” is a scientific term, and it is not open to debate. The science is settled. Human life begins at fertilization, and cogent moral reasoning about abortion must begin with that scientific fact."

Comment: I am pragmatic about this: rape and incest call for abortion as does extremely severe economic hardship. Another reason is proof of a severely deformed fetus based on DNA studies, and I don't mean Downs and others like it.