Aristotle on Abortion
I was flipping through my copy of The Politics the other day (yes, this is the sort of thing I do with my spare time) and I came across this passage:
Our modern knowledge of fetal development tells us that brain waves can be recorded and the embryo responds to touch by around the 6th week of pregnancy, so applying Aristotle's "life and sensation" standard would at minimum restrict abortion to the 1st half of the 1st trimester of pregnancy.If contrary to these arrangements copulation does take place and a child is conceived, abortion should be procured before the embryo has acquired life and sensation; the presence of life and sensation will be the mark of division between right and wrong here.
Why is this interesting? First, because Aristotle's views cannot be said to derive in any way from Christian revelation or Catholic dogma, but purely from reason and natural law. Second, because I found it not in his works on metaphysics or ethics but specifically in his work on politics. Clearly Aristotle did not consider abortion a matter of private religious or ethical opinion, he simply assumed it was a proper subject of public policy.
This once again refutes the claim that the pro-life position is inherently theological or a matter of Christians "imposing their religion" on others. Of course abortion is and must be a political issue.
posted by The Jabberwock @ 11:10 PM
2 Comments:
Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome.
Finding Aristotle's opinion on abortion in his "Politics" does not necessarily provide good reason to think it deals with public policy.
The relations of any group is considered by Aristotle to be "Politics". As such, even the relations in the family are considered by Aristotle to be political.
The second question that must be addressed (and I'd be interested in your view on the matter) is how this issue (which seems to be family related) should be treated by the state.
Post a Comment
<< Home