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Is it ever morally right to procure an abortion, to help procure one, or to perform one? Patrick Lee surveys the main philosophical arguments in favor of the moral permissibility of abortion and refutes them point by point. In a calm and philosophically sophisticated manner, he presents a powerful case for the pro-life position and a serious challenge to all of the main philosophical arguments on behalf of the pro-choice position. Lee's method is strictly philosophical, with special attention given to authors in the broadly analytical school of thought. He contends that what is killed in abortion is indeed an individual human being. Attempts to argue otherwise are carefully presented and criticized, as are other attempts to justify abortion morally.

Since 1996 when the first edition of Abortion and Unborn Human Life appeared, the debate about the morality of abortion has not subsided. From the standpoint of philosophy many issues have become clearer. Accordingly, Patrick Lee confirms his position that unborn human beings have an equal and inherent dignity and are subjects of basic rights from the moment of fertilization. In this second edition, Lee provides significant updates in view of recent developments.

Among the developments have been an added precision required for the argument against the gradualist position, the position that a human being only gradually comes to be; significant developments in embryology strengthening the case that at fertilization a new human individual comes to be; and further refinements to the argument that some abortions are non-intentional killing.

Lee argues that what is at stake in this debate about how to treat unborn human beings is whether we will or will not recognize the fundamental equal dignity possessed by every human being, simply by virtue of being the kind of being he or she is.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Patrick Lee holds the John N. and Jamie D. McAleer Chair of Bioethics and is the director of the Institute of Bioethics at Franciscan University Steubenville. He is known nationally as a keynote speaker and author of contemporary ethics, especially on controversies regarding human life and marriage. Lee is the coauthor of Body-Self Dualism in Contemporary Ethics and Politics, and the author of numerous published articles.

PRAISE FOR THE FIRST EDITION:

"Readers looking for a succinct and narrowly defined philosophical argument against abortion will find this book appealing. It is useful as a review of the past several decades of philosophical debate on abortion, and it may help readers understand how lines get drawn in such philosophical debate."-- Booklist

"A very good book on the abortion question. Lee's methods are rigorous and exact, his writing accessibly clear. This book is, therefore, an especially welcome contribution to a field of enquiry in which these two qualities are rarely found in combination."--Kevin L. Flannery, S.J., Gregorianum

Tabla de contenidos provista por Syndetics

• Preface to the Second Edition(p. ix)
• Acknowledgments(p. xiii)
• Introduction(p. 1)
• 1 Do Unborn Human Beings Become Persons after Birth?(p. 8)
• 2 Do Unborn Human Beings Become Persons during Gestation?(p. 47)
• 3 When Do Individual Human Beings Come to Be?(p. 71)
• 4 Is Abortion Justified as Nonintentional Killing?(p. 108)
• 5 Consequentialist Arguments(p. 140)
• Works Cited(p. 165)
• Index(p. 173)

Reseñas proporcionadas por Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Serious conceptual problems have long plagued both the extreme liberal and extreme conservative views on abortion. Lee (Franciscan Univ. of Steubenville), a Thomistic scholar in the Roman Catholic tradition, attacks some of the major views espoused by recent liberal and moderate philosophers, especially Michael Tooley, Judith Jarvis Thompson, and L.W. Sumner. As a proponent of the extreme conservative position, Lee targets two main lines of liberal and moderate argumentation: arguments that deny personhood to the fetus at various stages of its development, and arguments that defend abortion as an instance of justified killing. The book effectively exposes some of the well-known conceptual puzzles that have occupied these liberal and moderate philosophers. It leaves much unsaid, however. First, despite presenting its case well against liberals and moderates, it is much less rigorous in defending St. Thomas's leading principles against criticisms voiced by liberals and moderates--especially in regard to potentiality and the principle of double effect. Second, it conspicuously avoids the thorny problem of contraception, which many liberals and moderates feel serves as a reductio ad absurdum of the Thomistic view of potentiality. Finally, missing are discussion of public policy matters and analyses of the major recent court cases, such as Webster and Casey. Although this book does not contribute much new to the abortion debate, it is nevertheless a readable, documented, and well-argued analysis of several key conceptual issues from the Thomistic point of view. Therefore, it is probably a good acquisition for most Roman Catholic college libraries and major academic collections that keep up with the philosophical literature on abortion. Upper-division undergraduate; graduate. R. F. White College of Mount St. Joseph

Booklist Review

Readers looking for a succinct and narrowly defined philosophical argument against abortion will find this book appealing. Lee expresses the philosophical case against abortion in a simple syllogism on the first page of the book, then asserts that there are only three ways to challenge the argument enshrined in that syllogism. The book consists of extended arguments against each of those three ways. It is useful as a review of the past several decades of philosophical debate on abortion, and it may help readers understand how lines get drawn in such philosophical debate. (Reviewed June 1 & 15, 1996)0813208459Steve Schroeder

Notas de autor provistas por Syndetics

Patrick Lee holds the John N. and Jamie D. McAleer Chair of Bioethics and is the director of the Institute of Bioethics at Franciscan University Steubenville. He is known nationally as a keynote speaker and author of contemporary ethics, especially on controversies regarding human life and marriage. Lee is the coauthor of Body-Self Dualism in Contemporary Ethics and Politics, and the author of numerous published articles.