I hope you find this week’s module to be an enlightening introduction to some of the philosophical issues that arise in connection with the topic of abortion. Abortion continues to be one of the more controversial ethical topics of our age, engendering powerful emotions on all sides. Fortunately, we will be discussing three of the most important philosophical articles on abortion and our focus will remain on the issues they raise, rather than on the important issues they do not address.

The philosophical issues that arise this week are important apart from their presence in the abortion discussion. You’ll read of important distinctions such as the distinction between human in the genetic sense and human in the moral sense, the two ways of understanding what it means to have a right to life, the question of what makes killing normal adult humans wrong. You’ll learn of particular arguments such as the Traditional Pro-life argument, the famous violinist case, etc.

For this week’s Question of the Week, focus your post on one particular distinction or argument. What is the most interesting distinction or argument in this week’s readings or lecture? What makes it interesting?