Don Marquis, "An Argument that Abortion is Wrong"
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According to Marquis, why is killing a fetus wrong?
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Killing a fetus deprives it of a future like ours so it is prima facie wrong.
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Marquis's idea could be disproved if there was a different reason that death was wrong. What are two possibilities that he presents?
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1) discontinuation account - killing is bad because it discontinues the experience of life, which we value ** but we want a theory that values the future, not the present — if someone's life sucks now but will be great in the future, it would be ok to kill them by the discontinuation account but it seems like it shouldn't be ok 2) desire account - killing is bad because we want to keep living and it thwarts that ** however, we generally regard it as wrong to kill people who don't have a desire to live (esp. suicidal people) --> could mean people who in the future would have a desire to live (but fetuses would fall under that)
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How would Marquis respond to the assertion that his \"Future Like Ours\" argument is wrong because fetuses can't value their futures?
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There's value in futures even if they're not valued by that person at that time — a suicidal person doesn't value their future although it is still actually valuable to them, esp when they go on to do great things.
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What are Marquis's views on contraception?
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It's fine, because nothing is denied a future — choosing a sperm or ovum or combination would be completely arbitrary.
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According to Marquis, when might abortion be permissible?
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1) abortion might be justifiable in some circumstances if not having an abortion is as bad as the death of the fetus 2) Marquis also says it might be permissible if it is so early in pregnancy that the fetus is definitely not an individual. 3) it may not be wrong to kill in situations where the victim doesn't have a valuable future
