juggernaut
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- Joined
- Mar 22, 2009
- Messages
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Now that I'm done with my thesis and all the data has been processed, I'm curious to know what the rest of the world thinks about this. The following is a list of questions that were used to generate the twenty statements that eventually became the backbone of my study. If you're interested in seeing how the first twenty respondents replied go here: Ideas about personhood and when it begins
1. Does the definition of a person as "a biological member of the species H. sapiens with a right to life" appropriately capture what it is for a person to be a person? If not, why not?
2. If the above definition doesn't suit you, and you feel you have a better definition to offer, please provide it here.
3. Using the definition you feel most accurately describes what it is to be a person, when do you feel a person first should be recognized as such? At what point in time can a person first be properly called a person? Why?
4. Prior to this time does a being have any rights? If so, which? Why?
Hypothetical scenarios...
5. Should a pregnant woman be legally allowed to consume alcohol if she plans to carry the fetus to term? Smoke? Use drugs? Engage in potentially risky behaviors? Why or why not?
6. Should a pregnant woman who has spontaneously aborted (miscarried) be held morally or legally responsible for the loss to the same extent she might be were she to lose a child? Should she be investigated for neglect? If so, why? If not, why?
7. Should a woman be forced to maintain a pregnancy even though it may have lethal consequences for her? Why or why not?
1. Does the definition of a person as "a biological member of the species H. sapiens with a right to life" appropriately capture what it is for a person to be a person? If not, why not?
2. If the above definition doesn't suit you, and you feel you have a better definition to offer, please provide it here.
3. Using the definition you feel most accurately describes what it is to be a person, when do you feel a person first should be recognized as such? At what point in time can a person first be properly called a person? Why?
4. Prior to this time does a being have any rights? If so, which? Why?
Hypothetical scenarios...
5. Should a pregnant woman be legally allowed to consume alcohol if she plans to carry the fetus to term? Smoke? Use drugs? Engage in potentially risky behaviors? Why or why not?
6. Should a pregnant woman who has spontaneously aborted (miscarried) be held morally or legally responsible for the loss to the same extent she might be were she to lose a child? Should she be investigated for neglect? If so, why? If not, why?
7. Should a woman be forced to maintain a pregnancy even though it may have lethal consequences for her? Why or why not?