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Questions and Answers
What is the main focus of the argument presented by Alexander R. Pruss?
What is the basis of the argument that killing a fetus is wrong, according to the text?
What is the guiding intuition behind the argument that it would have been at least as wrong to have killed the author before birth as it would be to kill him now?
What does the author suggest would be required to argue further that abortion is always wrong?
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What is the scope of the argument presented by the author in relation to the wrongness of abortion?
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What is the author's main goal in the argument presented in the text?
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What does the author acknowledge would be required to argue that abortion is always wrong?
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What is the basis of the argument that killing a fetus is wrong, according to the text?
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What is the guiding intuition behind the argument that it would have been at least as wrong to have killed the author before birth as it would be to kill him now?
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What does the author suggest would be required to argue further that abortion is always wrong?
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Study Notes
The Ethics of Abortion: A Philosophical Argument
- The author aims to present an argument demonstrating that abortion is wrong in the same circumstances as killing an adult.
- The argument has three parts, with the first part being the most challenging, involving the author's personal experience as a fetus and an embryo.
- The author asserts that killing a fetus is wrong for the same reasons that killing an adult is wrong.
- The argument rests on simple considerations of the metaphysics of identity.
- The author contends that it would have been equally wrong to have killed them before they were born as it would be to kill them now.
- The guiding intuition is that killing earlier deprives the victim of more life, making the harm greater.
- The author acknowledges that arguing that abortion is always wrong would require showing that it is always wrong to kill an adult, which is beyond the scope of the paper.
- The author asserts that most abortions are wrong based on the uncontroversial notion that it is wrong to kill an adult human being for the sorts of reasons for which most abortions are performed.
- The argument aims to demonstrate that most abortions are ethically problematic based on the harm inflicted and the metaphysical nature of identity.
- The paper does not address whether it is always wrong to kill an adult or whether the circumstances that make killing an adult permissible never befall a fetus.
- The author uses the metaphysical concept of identity and the notion of harm to argue against the permissibility of most abortions.
- The author's argument centers on the idea that the harm inflicted by killing a fetus is greater, as it deprives the individual of more life.
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Description
This quiz tests your understanding of the philosophical argument presented by Alexander R. Pruss on why abortion is wrong. It covers the comparison between the moral status of a fetus and an adult, and the ethical considerations surrounding abortion.
