Analyse the various answers to the question.
‘When does human life start?’ (30 marks)
There are many different views as to when human life starts, for example conception, viability, the primitive streak, potentiality and birth are all considered to be the starting point of human life.
The question ‘when does human life start?’ is an ongoing debate argued by many. One answer to this question is that conception is the start of human life, as the action of conceiving a child or of one being conceived is considered to be the start of human life by many. For example John Grigg said that ‘to my mind life begins at the moment of conception, conception is that magic moment.’ This suggests that human life starts at the moment of conception, therefore it is wrong to use contraception and abortion as this would be considered taking a life which goes against the ten commandments in which commandment six states that ‘Thou shalt not kill.’ The Roman Catholics also believe that to abort a foetus is murder; they have based this on the teachings from Pope Pius IX, as he declared that a foetus is a human person from the moment of conception. It is considered that conception is the start of human life because conception is the point at which the unique selection of genetic information is present and, if allowed to continue and successful in development will go on to be a unique human being.
Another view on the ongoing question of ‘when does human life start’ is viability, this is an often used term during pregnancy. It is used to describe different situations. This refers to the time where the baby would be born prematurely and having a reasonable chance of survival. Doctors in the UK have said the viability age is roughly 24 weeks. However being born at week 24 does not mean that all babies will survive outside of the womb and that they would not have any complications. The chance of survival increases each day after the 24th week and the risk of complications decreases. Wither the foetus will survive outside the womb depends on the state of medical science of that time period as medical science is improving frequently allowing survival chances to increase, the medical facilities available at a particular location in third world countries foetus’ would not be able to survive outside to womb and the cut-off point week 24 because they have limited equipment and knowledge that can keep the baby alive outside to womb in its dependable state. Also the competence or willingness of the mother, the gender of the foetus and the race of the foetus. People that believe in Viability would believe that human life starts when the foetus is able to live outside of the womb.
The Essay on Meaning to Human Life
Is there any meaning to human life? After listening to the first two lectures I gathered what I felt to be Professor Amrbosio’s definitions of the hero and the saint. I took notes and after going back through and reading them it helped me to put a few things together. He asks the question about whether or not human existence is meaningful or absurd. We live in a hostile and deadly environment so ...
Another argument for the question ‘when does human life start’ is birth. It is believed that birth is the start of human life because many believe that the life of the foetus doesn’t begin until it is born, it is then considered alive and living on its own, and the mother is no longer providing for the foetus and is now considered to be alive. Mary Anne Warren argues that ‘birth, rather than some earlier point marks the beginning of true moral status’. This suggests that birth is the start of human life because until this point the foetus is still living off the mother and cannot yet survive outside of the womb. People believe that the foetus is not independent until it is born this belief means that they would allow abortion up to any date before birth because the foetus is not considered a human being. And only birth is the start of human life.
In answer to ‘when does human life start’ the potentiality of a foetus is a view point as many people believe that a foetus should be given the status of a person because it is a potential person. This is called potentiality, anything that has potential to be a human. Pope Pius said a foetus is a human person from the moment of conception therefore that human being has the potential to live outside of the womb and the potential human beings life has started from conception. This suggests that because the foetus has that potential it should be classed as a human being. For example because a foetus is less developed than a new-born just as a child is less developed than an adult. But being less developed than an adult does not mean that a child is any less a human being. That’s also true of the unborn. Therefore suggesting that all foetus’ have the potential to life and human life has at that point.
The Essay on Innocent Human Fetus Life Mother
"It is wrong to kill an innocent human being, a fetus is an innocent human being, therefore abortion is wrong." The debate focuses on two distinct issues: (1) whether the human fetus has a right to life and (2) whether these rights equal or override the rights of the mother. A person's stance on this debate may depend greatly on their definition of a human being as opposed to a human life form. If ...
The finial argument that is used is the primitive streak this is another debate that is the first sign of the potential of a life. At the 14th day mark it should be prominent and is considered at this point a unique human being can be said to exist. The reasons why the primitive streak of human life is because it has the potential to live and be able to survive on its own outside the womb, giving it human rights and therefore making it illegal to take, its potential life away, this would be considered murder and goes against the 6th commandment ‘Thou shalt not kill’. Therefore not allowing Roman Catholics to have abortions at any stage of a pregnancy because it has the potential to be a human being and by aborting the foetus it would be classed as murder. The primitive streak is believed to be the start of human life because it has shown the potential to become a human being therefore it should be classed as a human being when the primitive streak is prominent.
In conclusion conception, viability, the primitive streak, potentiality and birth are all considered to be the starting point of human life. They all have positive and negative sides to their argument. I believe saying that human life does not start until birth is wrong because the foetus can survive outside the womb before then and has the potential to become a human being before it is born. I also believe that basing the viability of a foetus to decide wither it is s human being or not is wrong too because before viability abortion is acceptable but the moment that it is past viability, this could be a matter of minutes, hours or a day abortion is restricted and the baby should have a chance to live. I think this is wrong because an hour or a day should not decide wither the foetus should have the chance to be classed as a human being and different foetus’ develop at different times therefore is an undeveloped foetus is classed as viable because it is a day older than another foetus that has developed fast and successfully but because it is not viable by a day it is not classed as a human being and not entitled to a chance to live. I believe that each foetus has the potential to be a human being and should be classed as one and just because foetus is less developed than a new-born just as a child is less developed than an adult. But being less developed than an adult does not mean that a child is any less a human being. That’s also true of the unborn. Therefore suggesting that all foetuses have the potential to life and should be classed as a human being.
The Essay on Psychological Attitudes Towards Human Behavior
Psychological Attitudes towards Human Behavior Psychological attitude towards variety of issues is an important factor determining human behavior in certain life situation. In this research we are going to analyze the book by Victor Frakl called Mans search for meaning in order to find out possible attitudes towards human behavior and how it can be expressed. This book is giving the reader a ...
