...Judith Thompson presents an interesting slant on the moral permissibility of abortion in that she assumes the fetus is a person from conception, therefore having the right to life. However, the fetus’ right to life does not suggest that it has the right to unlimited means to ensure its survival. An abortion is still permissible if the mother does not grant fetus the right to use her body. Thompson gives several analogies of scenarios in which abortions are morally permissible, in which the right for mother to have an abortion outweighs the fetus’ right to use the mother’s body. In the Jane scenario she would argue that it is ultimately morally impermissible for her to obtain an abortion because the fetus is given the right to use the mother’s body. Jane’s pregnancy can be thought of as an accident, because she and her husband almost always faithfully use condoms to prevent accidental conception. Therefore she did not intend to carry the fetus. Thompson states that if the mother did not intend to conceive, and attempted to follow the proper safeguards, then she does not grant the fetus the use of her body. Some may view Jane’s one instance of not using a condom as culpable because she should understand the risk of pregnancy during unprotected sex, and therefore, she is responsible for the fetus’ existence. Thompson states that it is preposterous to argue that the conception of a fetus due to a misjudgment such as forgetting a condom should be seen as an invitation for the fetus...
Words: 2377 - Pages: 10
...Meredith Kaiser Ajume Wingo Philosophy in Society Abortion is a hot button issue that has become the highlight of many debates, political debates, and religious differences. The issue of abortion is the contemplation of whether taking away the existence is of a fetus inside a women’s womb is moral or not. This debate has created political phrases such as “pro-life” and “pro-choice” (Lecture). Most would think that these two phrases are concretely of a singular meaning. “Pro-choice” does not simply mean that abortion is correct and moral but that women should have the right to choose whether or not the fetus is allowed to continue its existence in the womb of that particular woman. “Pro-choice” believers are perceived to believe that abortion is immoral under every circumstance, yet many “pro-choice” may think there are particular circumstances in which abortion is immoral and also moral. “Pro-life” on the other hand is not simply the political belief that abortion is immoral. Rather, it is the belief that the fetus inside a women’s womb is not just a fetus simply existing within her, but rather it is a separate and independent livening within the women whose life began at the time of conception. This view entails that abortion is murder because the baby is considered living on its own from the time of conception and therefore should have an opportunity to live a long fulfilling life without the interference of an abortion letting that happen. In this paper I will review three...
Words: 446 - Pages: 2
...Americans are continuously fighting a moral battle between supporting or opposing abortion continuously fight to support or oppose. A woman’s right to choose to have an abortion or not, is her inherent right. Abortion has the potential to save woman’s life both physically and emotionally. If society prohibits abortion, society is interfering with a woman’s right to make decisions related to her own body. I am siding with Thomson's views on abortion, as I believe they are more logical and provide the woman with more rights than Marquis' points do. Thomson believes that the decision to go through with the abortion can’t be strictly decided by determining if the fetus is a moral person. Even if we accept that fetuses have a natural right to life, Thomson believe in most cases the rights of the mother should trump the rights of the fetus. Thompson points out...
Words: 589 - Pages: 3
...Abortion Essay “It is a mistake to reject religious principles in favour of secular/ethical principles for guidance in medical ethics” Examine and comment on this claim with reference to the topic you have investigated (50 marks) Abortion is the deliberate termination of a pregnancy after the fertilisation of the human ovum and before birth. Abortion is debated because there are many different views with strong opinions and evidence for the pro-life and pro-choice argument. Pro-life is against abortion as they believe abortion should never be allowed and this is mostly religious people who believe with the pro-life argument, whereas pro-choice is where it is thought to be the mothers choice as it is her body so whatever she wants to happen to the baby can happen so the mother should always come before the foetus. Whether or not religious principles should be rejected in favour of non-religious principles is debated in Philosophy because there are a number of ethical issues which constantly surround this. In this essay I will comment on whether it is a mistake to favour non-religious beliefs over religious beliefs when looking at abortion, including those of Aristotle and John Paul II, and secular views which mean non-religious or spiritual views including those of Warren and Thompson. There are a number of types of abortion for example vacuum aspiration or suction termination which can only happen between the first 7 to 15 weeks of conception, this means that the foetus is...
Words: 1524 - Pages: 7
...Abortion Essay “It is a mistake to reject religious principles in favour of secular/ethical principles for guidance in medical ethics” Examine and comment on this claim with reference to the topic you have investigated (50 marks) Abortion is the deliberate termination of a pregnancy after the fertilisation of the human ovum and before birth. Abortion is debated because there are many different views with strong opinions and evidence for the pro-life and pro-choice argument. Pro-life is against abortion as they believe abortion should never be allowed and this is mostly religious people who believe with the pro-life argument, whereas pro-choice is where it is thought to be the mothers choice as it is her body so whatever she wants to happen to the baby can happen so the mother should always come before the foetus. Whether or not religious principles should be rejected in favour of non-religious principles is debated in Philosophy because there are a number of ethical issues which constantly surround this. In this essay I will comment on whether it is a mistake to favour non-religious beliefs over religious beliefs when looking at abortion, including those of Aristotle and John Paul II, and secular views which mean non-religious or spiritual views including those of Warren and Thompson. There are a number of types of abortion for example vacuum aspiration or suction termination which can only happen between the first 7 to 15 weeks of conception, this means that the foetus is...
Words: 1524 - Pages: 7
...One of the most controversial issues present in today’s society is abortion. Abortion is the termination of a fetus done purposely to prevent the birth of a child. Since abortions are now easier, less dangerous and more accessible than they once were; they have become the target of debate in every aspect of our lives. The issue of abortion has caused many heated debates in politics, religion and society in general; yet both sides seem to only see one side of the picture and avoid the issue as whole. One way of examining whether abortion is right or wrong is to look at whether or not the fetus is a person or not. This evaluation is done by Mary Anne Warren, in which she determines a set of criteria that both pro-abortionists and anti-abortionists can agree upon. Warren states that in order to be considered a fetus must: “have consciousness of objects and events, reasoning, self-motivated activity, capacity to communicate and the presence of self-concept and self-awareness.” Using these criteria, Warren determines that the fetus has not reached personhood and therefore, is not guaranteed the right to life. Thus, she believes that at least until birth the fetus has no moral status and a lacks a right to life. Warren’s argument may seem a bit flawed because her criteria do not provide a clear-cut way to distinguish between the fetuses in the stages of pregnancy or perhaps even the infant himself. According to her criteria, a newborn infant would not have a significant right to...
Words: 1617 - Pages: 7
...he was given the breath of life. Until a baby can breathe outside of the womb it cannot be considered a human, even by followers of religion, surely. Peter Singer goes further to suggest that even babies up to the age of one month old are not people, for they have still not developed rational capacity, and to a certain extent he is right. Judith Jarvis Thompson listed the traits of personhood, including the ability to make rational decisions. It is certain that at birth babies do not have this ability, so perhaps cannot be considered to be people until a certain age of birth, however extreme this perspective may be. It is almost undeniable that a foetus is not a person. Even religious followers would struggle to argue against this, and in addition babies display few traits of personhood, even up to birth. A sensible time to assume that a foetus becomes a person would be at birth, though even at this stage they may not display the traits of personhood, so by some would still not be considered people. A foetus is categorically not a person. Explain how a belief in the Sanctity of Life may influence ethical approaches to abortion. The sanctity of life theory is the idea that all humans are created in the image of God and because of this only God has the right to give or take life....
Words: 1055 - Pages: 5
..."Oh, shut up!" says Claudia, blushing."1 may read the astrology column, but I certainly don't believe it. I just read it for fun. But, the fact is, during the past twenty-five years there have been thousands of alleged sightings of UFOs, and not a single one has led to any solid evidence of their existence. What do you make of that?" "I think we should look at this situation the other way around," Ralph says."Up until now, nobody has shown that UFOs don't exist, so I think we should give those people who claim they have seen them the benefit of the doubt. We should believe in UFOs and extraterrestrials until the sightings are proven false." "Well, okay. Let's suppose,just for the sake of argument, that I admit the existence of UFOs and t~eir little green drivers. How are we supposed to respond to them? What are we supposed to do?"C1audia asks. "For starters, we should extend an open invitation to them," answers Ralph."They may come from a dying planet where millions of their compatriots desperately strug gle for survival.Their sun may be burning out, their water supply exhausted, and their soil poisoned with toxic chemicals. Surely they deserve a second chance on a new planet." "Maybe so," Claudia says in a patronizing tone."And now that you mention it, we probably have a legal obligation to let them in. Our current immigration laws say that we have to admit at least ten thousand applicants annually, from every major nation. If those aliens would just sign the right papers, we'd...
Words: 9519 - Pages: 39
...Notes for the Course: Religion and Ethics in our Modern Society, 2012 By Dr H Ndlovu Definition and Nature of Christian Ethics Ethics is derived from the Greek word “ethos” that is also comes from another word “ethika.” Ethika means norms, conventions, values, customs the society. Thus ethics is a discipline that examines one’s moral standards or the moral of a society. These are absorbed from family, church and friends. Why Study Ethics There are nine reasons why human beings have to study ethics. 1. Human beings are capable of reasoning from cause to effect with the understanding that everything done has effect. 2. Human beings are capable of making choices after comparing the alternatives, that is, internal and external. People have two cells namely: a. Real – what we have now b. Ideal – what we are aiming at 3. Human beings are self – conscious. This means we can study ourselves by being a subject and be the object at the same time. 4. Human beings are finite or limited not knowing what will happen from the next moment or next door. Thus, we must have principles to apply when situations comes. 5. Human life is an active dynamic phenomenon – We do something as if we do nothing. 6. People also can be taught to be good (Isaiah 1 :18) 7. Human beings are capable of filing an obligation 8. Human beings are also capable of understanding what moral terms like freedom, dignity and so on affects other people. 9. Finally, human beings need to survive. Human civilization...
Words: 39235 - Pages: 157
...The Thief of Time The Thief of Time Philosophical Essays on Procrastination Edited by Chrisoula Andreou Mark D. White 2010 Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that further Oxford University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education. Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Copyright © 2010 by Oxford University Press, Inc. Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016 www.oup.com Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The thief of time: philosophical essays on procrastination / edited by Chrisoula Andreou and Mark D. White. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-19-537668-5 (hardback: alk. paper) 1. Procrastination. I. Andreou, Chrisoula. II. White, Mark D., 1971– BF637.P76T45 2010 128'.4—dc22 2009021750 987654321 Printed in the United States of...
Words: 125542 - Pages: 503
...01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 Step 7 A Judge Is Assigned to Hear the Case ❖ 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 N 30 L In the previous two chapters, we learned about the two attorneys in the courtroom drama, the prosecutor and the defense attorney. In this chapter, we turn our attention to the third member of the courtroom work group, the judge. We will learn what judges do and how they become judges. Then, we will look at judges’ discretion and how it affects their relationships with others. INTRODUCTION Judges are by far the most easily recognized member of the courtroom work group, both by their conspicuous robes and by their prominent position in the courtroom. They are also the subject of many stereotypes because the public wants to believe that judges combine patience, wisdom, and compassion to arrive at fair decisions, while they eschew the character flaws that sometimes form the basis of decisions by others, including prejudice, intolerance, favoritism, and hostility. Unfortunately, judges are human and their decisions occasionally reflect such a reality. One West Virginia judge, for example, became so enraged at a defendant who began cursing at him in court that he jumped down from his bench, tore off his judicial robe, and bit the tip off the defendant’s nose (Smith, 1998). He served five days in jail on state assault...
Words: 21662 - Pages: 87
...Conflicting Federal and State Medical Marijuana Policies: A Threat to Cooperative Federalism Todd Grabarsky* Abstract The legal status of medical marijuana in the United States is something of a paradox. On one hand, federal government has placed a ban on the drug with no exceptions. On the other hand, over one-third of the states have that legalizes the cultivation, distribution, and consumption of the drug for medical purposes. As such, the usage of medical marijuana is an activity that is at the same time proscribed (by the federal government) and encouraged (by state governments through their systems of regulation and taxation). This Article seeks to shed light on this unprecedented nebulous zone of legality in which an activity is both legal and illegal, an issue that one scholar on the subject has deemed “one of the most important federalism disputes in a generation.” The issue has become heightened as two states have legalized marijuana for recreational (non-medical) purposes as a result of recent 2012 Election. This Article examines the issue from a federalism perspective. It begins by arguing that unpredictable enforcement by federal authorities in states that have legalized medical marijuana not only threatens state drug policy, but also the efficacy of federal enforcement. This argument is based on the premise that the federal drug ban exists as a cooperation between the states and the federal government. That the federal government relies on the assistance...
Words: 14241 - Pages: 57
...Readings for American History Since 1877 Historiography in America...................................................................................................................................................... 2 How to teach history (and how not to) ................................................................................................................................ 6 How Ignorant Are Americans? ........................................................................................................................................... 9 The West ............................................................................................................................................................................... 11 The Education of Native Americans ................................................................................................................................. 11 Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee .................................................................................................................................... 15 Prostitution in the West: .................................................................................................................................................... 17 The Gilded Age ..................................................................................................................................................................... 21 The Duties of American Citizenship ...........................
Words: 77768 - Pages: 312
...C O D E C ODE v e r s i o n 2 . 0 L A W R E N C E L E S S I G A Member of the Perseus Books Group New York Copyright © 2006 by Lawrence Lessig CC Attribution-ShareAlike Published by Basic Books A Member of the Perseus Books Group Printed in the United States of America. For information, address Basic Books, 387 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016–8810. Books published by Basic Books are available at special discounts for bulk purchases in the United States by corporations, institutions, and other organizations. For more information, please contact the Special Markets Department at the Perseus Books Group, 11 Cambridge Center, Cambridge MA 02142, or call (617) 252-5298, (800) 255-1514 or e-mail special.markets@perseusbooks.com. CIP catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. ISBN-10: 0–465–03914–6 ISBN-13: 978–0–465–03914–2 06 07 08 09 / 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Code version 1.0 FOR CHARLIE NESSON, WHOSE EVERY IDEA SEEMS CRAZY FOR ABOUT A YEAR. Code version 2.0 TO WIKIPEDIA, THE ONE SURPRISE THAT TEACHES MORE THAN EVERYTHING HERE. C O N T E N T S Preface to the Second Edition Preface to the First Edition Chapter 1. Code Is Law Chapter 2. Four Puzzles from Cyberspace PART I: “REGULABILITY” ix xiii 1 9 Chapter 3. Is-Ism: Is the Way It Is the Way It Must Be? Chapter 4. Architectures of Control Chapter 5. Regulating Code PART II: REGULATION BY CODE 31 38 61 Chapter 6. Cyberspaces Chapter 7. What Things Regulate...
Words: 190498 - Pages: 762
...ADMINISTRATIVE LAW INTRODUCTION Administrative law refers to the body of principles and procedures by which the exercise of executive government is controlled and supervised FOUR MECHANISMS OF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW 1. JUDICIAL REVIEW Whether the actions of the relevant public authority or official are legally correct and whether they acted within the confines of the power conferred on them or correctly exercised that power by adherence to procedures they were required to follow 2. MERITS REVIEW An independent or impartial reconsideration of all aspects of a decision by a public authority or official, the review body notionally “standing in the shoes” of the original decision maker and determining what is the correct or preferable decision 3. FREEDOM OF INFORMATION Provides the public at large with rights of access to government held information 4. OMBUDSMAN REVIEW Independent investigation of complaints about incorrect or unjust executive actions by public bodies or officials particularly in other circumstances where remedies are unavailable or unsuitable IF QUESTION INVOLVES ANY OF THESE IT IS A FEDERAL TRIBUNAL ISSUE • • • • • Immigration Social Security Tax Customs and Excise Native title IF QUESTION INVOLVES THESE IT IS STATE • • • • • Land and resources management Occupational and business regulation Local government Prisons Education JUDICIAL REVIEW • Judicial review is the means by which courts determine whether or not...
Words: 32688 - Pages: 131
