Chapter 11
A. Consider the ethical problem of Maggie and her math test. What is the difference between the first and second scenario in regards to how you assess her moral culpability? Explain how her actions could be considered cheating or not. How are her actions, in either scenario, morally justifiable or not? How do you think she justified her actions to herself? What would you have done in her situation?
B. Journal: There is a maximum of 1500 characters.
1. When, in your opinion, does human life begin? Substantiate your answer with as much evidence and reasoned argument as you can.
2. Would you view abortion as murder, mercy killing, self-defense, or merely the elimination of human tissue that is not yet a person? Give reasons to support your answer.
3. Discuss if human life is intrinsically valuable? Give reasons to support your answer.
4. Discuss the conditions under which it is moral and immoral to have an abortion. Give specific reasons to support your answer.
5. Do you agree that the mother must be the one to make the final decision on whether to have an abortion? Or, should anyone else be involved in the decision? If so, who should it be? Give reasons for your answer.
6. Does the fetus have legal or moral rights? Give reasons to support your answers.
7. Discuss the moral disagreement in the claim that a woman has absolute rights over her own body and the position that a conceptus has an absolute right to life. Be specific in your answer and make clear distinctions.
8. Discuss the structure of the arguments and whether Thomson has made her case.
1500 characters
