Eidse-Rempel Presentz

March 2009

UW PHILOSOPHY STUDENT COLLOQIUM

UW philosophy student Kajia Eidse-Rempel will present her paper "On Abortion" on Wednesday, 4 March. Talk will begin at 12h30, in room 2C15. All welcome!

ABSTRACT

In Judith Jarvis Thomson’s article "A Defense of Abortion", she attempts to prove that abortion is just even if we assume that the fetus is a person and thus worthy of full moral value. She challenges the premise that the fetus’s (person’s) right to life guarantees it the right to use the woman’s body, by associating body with private property. I will argue that her use of the right to private property is problematic in its own terms, requires further explanation than is given, and treats the issue of abortion in a superficial and trivial manner. The moral and emotional gravity involved in making the decision to end another person’s life is not addressed by a simple rights versus rights calculus. It is a decision that reflects a woman’s understanding of her own value and the value of everything around her, and it ought to be made with full knowledge of its implications.