The A Defense Of Abortion - 1294 Words

In this paper, I will argue that Thomson is right to claim that, even if a fetus is a person, abortion is still permissible, regardless of the fetus’ right to life. I will focus on Thomson’s 3 main analogies – the violinist, the people seeds, and the chocolate – and the arguments against them. In Thomson’s â€Å"A Defense of Abortion,† she uses several analogies to demonstrate that abortion, regardless of the circumstances surrounding the conception, is universally morally permissible. At the beginning of the essay, Thomson states clearly that she is arguing under the assumption that the fetus is considered a person. The first analogy that Thomson employs is the violinist. The basis of the thought experiment is that the Society of Music Lovers kidnaps you and hooks you up to a famous and deeply talented violinist who needs to use your kidneys for the next 9 months in order to live. She revisits this analogy several times throughout the essay to demonstrate various scenarios in which one can see the comparability to abortion clearly. In the first instance, she is arguing that a person’s right to life does not justify deciding what happens to your body without your consent. Later on, she reuses the thought experiment with a slight change in that if you continue to let the violinist use your kidneys, you will die within a month; however they cannot release you as it would definitely kill the violinist and that would be considered murder. With this change, Thomson is showing theShow MoreRelatedA Defense of Abortion Essay784 Words   |  4 PagesA Defense of Abortion In her argument on abortion, Judith Thomson discusses some major points about abortion. She deals with extreme cases and those extreme cases help us to realize a single perspective of abortion. For example, she talks about the violinist attached to you. In that example, you keep everything constant and focus on a single point, violinist being dead if you unattached him. This way of thinking would provide partial answers. That is, in real lifeRead MoreA Defense Of Abortion Summary1476 Words   |  6 PagesIn Thompson’s â€Å"A Defense of Abortion† she tries to answer the question: â€Å"Is voluntary abortion ever permissible?† Throughout the paper, she uses a variety of thought experiments in order to parallel pregnancy due to rape, accidental pregnancy, and pregnancy that threatens a mother’s life, among many other situations. Using these examples, she illustrates her main point: that unless a fetus has a right to demand it, the mother is not morally required to make large sacrifices to keep the fetus aliveRead MoreThe Defense Of Abortion And Virtue Theory And Abortion Essay1409 Words   |  6 PagesAbortion is the main topic talked about in both The Defense of Abortion and Virtue Theory and Abortion. While the two may have similarities, they are also quite different. While one story talks about how abortion is bad and makes you look at it thr ough different examples of things, the other describes how a righteous person sees it. In A Defense of Abortion, Thomson states at the very beginning â€Å"it is concluded that the fetus is a person from the moment of conception† (Thomson 449). She then goesRead MoreEssay on Thomson Defense of Abortion878 Words   |  4 PagesPhilosophy 1001-001 A Defense of Abortion in Pregnancy Reduction In this paper I will discuss the relevance of J.J. Thomson’s argument in her article, A Defense of Abortion, to that of pregnancy reduction and if there is any relevance, if there are exceptions or situations where that might change. J.J. Thomson’s argument in A Defense of Abortion is that the one thing a person has rights to is his/her body and the right to control what happens with it. Thomson also states that there is an innateRead MoreOn Thomson s A Defense Of Abortion Essay1278 Words   |  6 PagesOn Thomson’s â€Å"A Defense of Abortion† Abortion is the intentional and deliberate termination of a human pregnancy that results in the death of a fetus. It is a practice that has sparked many debates centering around arguments over women’s right and fetal rights. Judith Jarvis Thomson’s essay, â€Å"A Defense of Abortion,† argues that a fetus’s right to life does not always override a women’s right over her own body and thus abortion is not morally impermissible. By using thought experiments, ThomsonRead MoreA Defense Of Abortion By Judith Thomson1678 Words   |  7 PagesWhat takes precedence; an unborn fetus’ life or its mother’s right to her body? Anti-abortionist argue that the life of an unborn fetus has priority, and thus abortion is morally impermissible as it violates the fetus’ right to life. In her article â€Å"A Defense of Abortion†, Judith Thomson argues that abortion is morally permissible under the certain conditions where the rights of the fe tus fail to surpass a mother’s right of choice. For the sake of her argument, Thomson allows the assumption thatRead MoreA Defense Of Abortion By Judith Thomson965 Words   |  4 PagesPhilosopher Judith Thomson, in her article â€Å"A Defense of Abortion,† presents a hypothetical case of a famous violinist who has a health condition that can only be healed by getting â€Å"connected† to someone compatible and use his kidneys for 9 months to clean his contaminated blood. A compatible person is then kidnapped, rendered unconscious, and connected without permission to the dying violinist. When the victim wakes up, he gets an explanation and is presented with two options: he stays connectedRead MoreEssay on In Defense Of Abortion1638 Words   |  7 PagesWithout legal prohibitions, women in Europe and the United States provided abortions and trained each other to perform the procedures. In the past century different states had begun to outlaw any procedure that would terminate or avoid pregnancy. In 1973(?) the United States Supreme Court asserted a womans constitutional right to abortion in determining Roe v. Wade. After several decades of quiet disagreement, abortion has once again become a political hotbed. Under the direction of religiousRead More`` A Defense Of Abortion `` By Judith Jarvis Essay1552 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction: Is it immoral to have an abortion? Abortion is the process of stopping a pregnancy through the removal or killing of the fetus. Dan Marquis is adamant that abortion is wrong and that the fetus is a full human being that deserves to live while, Judith Jarvis Thomson would say that should the mother decide to terminate her pregnancy it is her body and her right. However, what if there was a third side to this already complicated issue? I argue that abortion itself is amoral and that circumstancesRead MoreA Defense Of Abortion By Judith Thomson1468 Words   |  6 PagesThank you! Ziyun Wang In A Defense of Abortion, Judith Thomson’s statement against abortion constructs on her agreement that fetus is a human being, for the sake of argument, therefore has the right to life. She shows that the basic argument against abortion is inadequate. The basic argument of abortion goes: the first premise is that every person has right to life; the second premise is that the fetus is a human being; the conclusion is that the abortion is impermissible. Thomson found this