Friday, May 20, 2005
Acorns, babies, and abortion
Sandel’s argument also relies on an equivocation of the terms "oak tree" and "human being." Of course, as Sandel says, acorns are not oak trees—if by "oak tree" one means a mature member of the oak species. By the same token, a sapling is not an "oak tree" if that is what one means (nor, by the same reasoning, is an infant a human being). But if by "oak tree" (or "oak") one means simply any member of the species, then an acorn (or a sapling) is an oak tree—they are identical substances, differing only in maturity or stage of natural development.
Similarly, no one claims that embryos are mature human beings, that is, adults. But human embryos are human beings, that is, complete, though immature, members of the human species. Embryos are human individuals at an early stage of their development, just as adolescents, toddlers, infants, and fetuses are human individuals at various developmental stages. So to say, as Sandel does, that embryos and human beings are different kinds of things is true only if one focuses exclusively on the accidental characteristics—size, degree of development, and so on. But the central question is, precisely, should we focus only on the accidental characteristics by which embryonic human beings differ from mature human beings, or should we recognize their essential nature (that is, what they are)?
Similarly, no one claims that embryos are mature human beings, that is, adults. But human embryos are human beings, that is, complete, though immature, members of the human species. Embryos are human individuals at an early stage of their development, just as adolescents, toddlers, infants, and fetuses are human individuals at various developmental stages. So to say, as Sandel does, that embryos and human beings are different kinds of things is true only if one focuses exclusively on the accidental characteristics—size, degree of development, and so on. But the central question is, precisely, should we focus only on the accidental characteristics by which embryonic human beings differ from mature human beings, or should we recognize their essential nature (that is, what they are)?
