- Summarize, in your own words, Thomson's thought experiments/analogies for pregnancy.
- Do you think that Thomson's thought experiments/analogies for pregnancy are accurate? Explain why or why not.
- Do you agree with Thomson's essential point: namely, that even if a fetus is considered human, abortion is still not murder? Explain why or why not.
Selections from Judith J arvis T homso n's A Defen se o{A bortion.
Historically, much of the debate concerning abortion revolved around one question: Is
the fetus a human being? If the answer was " yes," then it was automatically assumed that
the fetus has its pwn right to life, and hence abortion is murder.
Judith Jarvis Thomson's landmark article "A Defense of Abortion" changed all of that.
Though Thomson believes that a fetus is not a human being, she allows that it is a human
for the sake of argument. Her essential point is that even if the fetus is to be considered
human, abortion is still not murder.
Her strategy consists, among other things, of two brilliant thought experiments .
Essentially, these are analogies meant to completely transform the way we look at
pregnancy.