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From: owens@gatech.UUCP (Gerald R. Owens)
Newsgroups: net.abortion
Subject: Re: Carrot murder (???)
Message-ID: <8309@gatech.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 22-Jun-84 14:28:06 EDT
Article-I.D.: gatech.8309
Posted: Fri Jun 22 14:28:06 1984
Date-Received: Thu, 28-Jun-84 00:40:40 EDT
References: <1693@decwrl.UUCP>, <2187@mit-eddie.UUCP>
Organization: Georgia Tech School of ICS, Atlanta
Lines: 35

> >(By the way, abortion isn't murder for the same reason that eating a
> >carrot isn't murder -- neither carrots nor fetuses are intelligent.)
> >				-Doug Alan

     Alas, I think the distinction is murky.  At what point DO we say
that a person is intelligent??  Is a newborn intelligent??  How is
intelligence detected?  If intelligence is in the newborn now, then what
about the day before it's birth?  two days?  a week?  But if it's not in the
newborn, then WHEN does it arise? Is it ok to kill a newborn if 
we kill it before the 'magic' event that makes it
intelligent?  This is not to say that intelligence is not a good criterion
of "personhood", but it fails for lack of an objective standard.  I once
proposed the detection of brainwaves in the fetus as a good definition,
but it was objected to, since brainwaves are detectible as early as 45 days
after conception, and so too early for too many people's liking.

     The use of the term "fetus", by the way, I think needs to be clarified
somewhat.  It is a description of one stage in the development of the
organism, and thus should no more be a term to distinguish "personhood"
than "infant","child", "adolescent", "adult".  Age is not a good criterion
for personhood, for no one denies that children, adolescents and adults are
persons, and yet they all differ in age.  Thus, the *mere* age of the fetus
cannot be used to determine personhood (although it can be validly used as
a marker for some *other* aspect(s) that does (do) determine personhood (i.e.
At xx weeks, such and such is true, so it is not a person.)), for if it
doesn't make a difference between an infant and an adult, then why should it
suddenly make a difference between fetus and infant??.


					Gerald Owens
					Owens@Gatech

p.s.  I'm quite busy, so I won't be able to reply as quick as I would like.