Quote:
Originally Posted by FBandit
I don't think conscious mind is the most critical part. I think you can have a rudimentary conscious mind and still lack all that which makes up our preferences and personhood: desire to live, cabability to suffer, understanding of future, understanding of death, cabability to feel joy and sadness... I think the question about abortion should be whose preferences matter more and who suffers more.
You can't have any of that without a conscious mind.
A non-conscious mind can't have a preference. The moment preferences come into play; a conscious mind exists; and it is killing. This can frequently be murder.
I'm taking conscious to be actual thoughts by the way; which differs from just sensing- a computer, moving- a rain drop, etc..
I agree that all the things you listed affect the valuation of a conscious; but that really only comes into play when you are in a theatre of responsibility i.e. chosing who will survive, being a president, etc.
Prima facie; once the baby has a conscious mind, or has the disposition (masked or not i.e. being passed out is a conscious mind- it is just not in use), it is a moral issue.
From there you can go where you will. I think then it becomes very hard to decide whether it should be aborted. I want to say no, unless it kills the mum. It is a sad reality that they have to give birth if it was caused by rape; but life can be sad. I would hold no responsibility to care for the parent though, it is societies as much as the parents. Thats a different question.
There is time before this though, when the baby is just an empty vase. Its probably not optimal to prevent it being in life- its not a morally good action, and it can be done maliciously which will make it morally evil. But intrinscically, I see no case morally to be worth while without a conscious.
In regards to it being seriously ill; I think it should still not be allowed to be aborted. Unless it is known (100%) that it would wish it would never be born; the lack of sureity is never enough to kill it