A. In all the questions that form part of this discussion make sure you give evidence from the texts in support of your views. Don Marquis makes the following claims regarding the morality of abortion:
1. The standard view against the killing of humans is that what makes ending a human’s life morally wrong is that it is a human life.
2. Life does not begin at birth, not even at conception, because biologically there was life before conception. The standard view is flawed because it would make contraception wrong.
3. What makes killing a human being wrong is depriving her/him of future value, some of which the person may not value now.
4. Fetuses have futures very much like ours. Their futures contain whatever ours contain and more.
5. Therefore: Given certain defensible assumptions and a few qualifications, abortion is immoral.
How would Joel Feinberg evaluate Marquis’ claims by applying the claims found in his “Abortion” essay?
B. J. Gay Williams has objections about the term “passive euthanasia.” What are the implications of those semantic objections for Klemens Kappel’s views about the morality of euthanasia? In other words, how would Williams judge Kappel’s views, given his (Williams’) objections to the concept
“passive euthanasia.”
C. Abortion and euthanasia are problematic moral issues because they are widely considered issues regarding homicide of innocent persons. In that sense, they go together as part of a consistent human life ethic. Explain how you would decide the Feinberg-Marquis and Kappel-Williams debates and how your moral judgments in these two cases form part of a consistent human life ethic.