E6: med ethics

• Peter Vardy: become a person when the soul joins with the body (substance dualism)
• give 2 criticisms of this view of personhood:

  Peter Vardy: become a person when the soul joins with the body (substance dualism)

  1. untestable so don't know when this happens (Ayer VP)
  2. criticisms of substance dualism: prob of interaction, prob of other minds
• Boonin: becomes person when organised brain activity starts (32wks)
• Kant: killing person who doesn’t choose to die not respecting autonomy
• Fletcher: indicators of personhood


  • self-awareness
  • self-control
  • sense of future
  • sense of past
  • concern for others
  • ability to relate to others
  • communication
  • curiosity
• Glover: can't draw a clear line between person + non-person = no personhood

  - John Gray: idea of personhood not from biology, from Plato + relig
• Judith Jarvis Thompson argument for abortion


  • Violinist analogy - kidnapped to connect to violinist for 9 months or he’ll die
  • Mother's rights most important - right to life doesn't entail right to use someone’s body
  • Abortion doesn't violate foetus’ right to life, just removing use of your body it has no right to
• Judith Jarvis Thompson argument for abortion

  • Violinist analogy - kidnapped + have to stay connected to violinist for 9 months or he’ll die
  • Mother's rights most important – right to life doesn't entail right to use someone’s body
  • Abortion doesn't violate foetus’ right to life, just removing use of your body it has no right to
• 3 criticisms of Judith Jarvis Thompson's argument for abortion (violinist)

  1. Parents have special obligation to kids - violinist is stranger, no obligation
  2. Freely had sex = foetus has right to use body - not same for violinist or pregnancy due to rape
  3. Foot: diff between killing + letting die - abortion kills foetus, unplug violinist just lets him die
• QALYs: quality-adjusted life years - a measure of the value of a year of life (NHS)
• Don Marquis argument against abortion

  killing is wrong as it deprives ppl of future life + experiences → abortion wrong
• criticism of Don Marquis' argument against abortion:

  killing is wrong as it deprives ppl of future life + experiences → abortion wrong

  QOL: Could allow if better for foetus to be deprived of future experiences, bad QOL
• Don Marquis argument against abortion


  killing is wrong as it deprives ppl of future life + experiences
• Wilcockson 2 arguments against euthanasia

  1. slippery slope - may allow involuntary, Nazi Germany
  2. reduces autonomy + damages patient-doc relationship, no trust
• give a response to this argument against euthanasia:

  Wilcockson: slippery slope - may allow involuntary; Nazi Germany

  Kuhse, Glover: huge diff between compassionate euth + Nazis (racism vs autonomy + dignity)

  - No slippery slope w countries like Netherlands
• give a response to this argument against euthanasia:

  Wilcockson: slippery slope - may allow involuntary; Nazi Germany

  Kuhse, Glover: huge diff between compassionate euth + Nazis (racism vs autonomy + dignity)

  - No slippery slope w countries like Netherlands