Here’s where I think my argumentation is flaved. I’d definitely not kill a coma patient (not fully human being since not thinking) whose chances of becoming a human are 10% but I’d definitely kill a fetus (also not thinking and not living on his own), whose chances of becoming a human being are greater than 10%.
So is it ok to judge our action by considering how big percentage of a human being are we switching off? It seems logical, but the consequences are strange.
Check your utility function. For any given moral dilemma, the answer is always in your utility function. Or in your preference structure to be pedantic (i.e., utility functions are certain types of preference structures. Your preference structure may or may not be a utility function.)
The abortion debate is largely one big example of a disguised query. Everyone agrees that killing humans unecessarily is wrong, then they argue over whether a fetus is a human. But all of the normativity is built into this magical word, “human.” Both sides are asking “is a fetus human?” and this is the WRONG question to ask. The right question is “how much do we value a fetus?”
Furthemore, there’s no reason, a priori, to assume that all of the value of a fetus/baby comes at childbirth or at conception. Looking for a point in time where something discontinuous happens to the fetus in order to determine when it obtains all of it’s value needs justification in itself. It assumes away the possibility of a continuously increasing value of the fetus (in time). This may or may not be a safe assumption, but in order to really know, you need to discover your own preferences. Personally, I think it’s more likely to be a (relatively) continuous function in between conception and childbirth with discontinuous jumps at those two points. There is something special about both conception and childbirth that induces a sharp increase in the value of the fetus, but there’s a slower, steadier increase along the way from conception to childbirth as well. There may be a few more discontinuities as well, e.g. when the heart starts beating or the brain begins to control the body.
As for the difference between the fetus and a coma patient, consider biting the bullet that you just do value coma patients more than fetuses. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that. Someone else might exclaim that your morally depraved, but that’s what their utility function says, not yours.
Check your utility function. For any given moral dilemma, the answer is always in your utility function. Or in your preference structure to be pedantic (i.e., utility functions are certain types of preference structures. Your preference structure may or may not be a utility function.)
The abortion debate is largely one big example of a disguised query. Everyone agrees that killing humans unecessarily is wrong, then they argue over whether a fetus is a human. But all of the normativity is built into this magical word, “human.” Both sides are asking “is a fetus human?” and this is the WRONG question to ask. The right question is “how much do we value a fetus?”
Furthemore, there’s no reason, a priori, to assume that all of the value of a fetus/baby comes at childbirth or at conception. Looking for a point in time where something discontinuous happens to the fetus in order to determine when it obtains all of it’s value needs justification in itself. It assumes away the possibility of a continuously increasing value of the fetus (in time). This may or may not be a safe assumption, but in order to really know, you need to discover your own preferences. Personally, I think it’s more likely to be a (relatively) continuous function in between conception and childbirth with discontinuous jumps at those two points. There is something special about both conception and childbirth that induces a sharp increase in the value of the fetus, but there’s a slower, steadier increase along the way from conception to childbirth as well. There may be a few more discontinuities as well, e.g. when the heart starts beating or the brain begins to control the body.
As for the difference between the fetus and a coma patient, consider biting the bullet that you just do value coma patients more than fetuses. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that. Someone else might exclaim that your morally depraved, but that’s what their utility function says, not yours.