Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 30 (4):379 – 394 (2005)
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Abstract |
In addressing bioethical issues at the beginning of human life, such as abortion, in vitro fertilization, and embryonic stem cell research, one primary concern regards establishing when a developing human embryo or fetus can be considered a person. Thomas Aquinas argues that an embryo or fetus is not a human person until its body is informed by a rational soul. Aquinas's explicit account of human embryogenesis has been generally rejected by contemporary scholars due to its dependence upon medieval biological data, which has been far surpassed by current scientific research. A number of scholars, however, have attempted to combine Aquinas's basic metaphysical account of human nature with current embryological data to develop a contemporary Thomistic account of a human person's beginning. In this article, I discuss two recent interpretations in which it is argued that a human person does not begin to exist until a fetus has developed a functioning cerebral cortex
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DOI | 10.1080/03605310591008559 |
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References found in this work BETA
When Did I Begin?: Conception of the Human Individual in History, Philosophy, and Science.Norman M. Ford - 1988 - Cambridge University Press.
Thomas Aquinas on Human Nature: A Philosophical Study of Summa Theologia 1a 75–89.Robert Pasnau - 2001 - Cambridge University Press.
Non-Cartesian Substance Dualism and Materialism Without Reductionism.Eleonore Stump - 1995 - Faith and Philosophy 12 (4):505-531.
Aquinas on Human Ensoulment, Abortion and the Value of Life.John Haldane & Patrick Lee - 2003 - Philosophy 78 (2):255-278.
View all 18 references / Add more references
Citations of this work BETA
Moral Uncertainty in Bioethical Argumentation: A New Understanding of the Pro-Life View on Early Human Embryos.Tomasz Żuradzki - 2014 - Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics 35 (6):441-457.
Metaphysical and Ethical Perspectives on Creating Animal-Human Chimeras.J. T. Eberl & R. A. Ballard - 2009 - Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 34 (5):470-486.
Disability and the Complexity of Choice in the Ethics of Abortion and Voluntary Euthanasia.Shane Clifton - 2021 - Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 46 (4):431-450.
Creating Non-Human Persons: Might It Be Worth the Risk?Jason T. Eberl - 2007 - American Journal of Bioethics 7 (5):52 – 54.
The Complex Nature of Jewish and Catholic Bioethics.Jason T. Eberl - 2009 - American Journal of Bioethics 9 (11):31-32.
View all 11 citations / Add more citations
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