philosophic theories have developed to determine when human life begins.
A large portion of these theories have been derived from a decisive moment
position. The commonality between all decisive moment theories is simply
what the name suggests. A particular moment or an established set of criteria
determines when life begins. The only problem is that many "decisive moments"
have been marked to signify the beginning of life. Following are short
descriptions and supporting facts of some of the more common theories which
have developed, along with the common arguments refuting these theories.
The following information is paraphrased from Francis
Beckwith (1994), and all quotations are his unless otherwise specified.
The information taken from other people and sources
can be found in the article written by Beckwith.
Dr. Bernard Nathanson
Francis Beckwith offers two main
that life begins within one arguments in refutation of this
week after conception at the theory:
moment when the conceptus is
implanted in the mother's womb.
Two of his most convincing argu-
ments supporting this theory are:
- At implantation,
- One's essence is not de-
"establishes its presence to pendent upon another person's
the rest of us by transmitting awareness of you. "One inter-
its own signals-by producing acts with a human being, but
hormones-approximately one week one does not make a being
after fertilization and as soon human."
as it burrows into the alien
uterine wall." This hormonal
communication between the unborn
and the mother is essential to
- If human life
is believed to begin
- This argument confuses the
at conception, then the entities sperm-egg union as a
that are a result of the union between necessary condition to con-
egg and sperm, such as the hydatidi- ception, and not as a
form mole (usually degenerated sufficient condition. If
placenta with a random number of cloning of humans does become
chromosomes), which never result in possible, it would only mean
a human must be accounted for. that conception is no longer
Humans who come into existence with- a necessary condition for
out this union, such as a clone might full humanness.
one day be, must also be accounted for.
Professor Ernest Van
Den Haag (1994)
Francis Beckwith (1994) debates
makes an argument for the case that Professor Van Den Haag's position.
human life begins when the fetus in Beckwith argues that appearing
the womb begins to resemble a human. like a human is not a sufficient
According to Professor Van Den Haag, or a necessary condition for being
the acquisition of a functioning human. A mannequin resembles
brain and neural system soon after humans, but is not one. The
the first trimester cause the unborn bearded lady and the elephant man
being to begin to resemble an at the circus are more closely
embryonic being. These features are representative of nonhuman pri-
an essential part to being human, and mates, yet they are human. "An
no group of cells should be seen as early embryo, though not looking
human until the functioning brain and like a newborn, does look exactly
the neural system are present. like a human ought to look at this
stage in development.
- As a society, we begin
- In Chinese societies, one's age
one's age at birth; thus, birth marks is determined from the moment of
the beginning of one's existence. conception. Does this mean that
American unborn babies are not
fully human while Chinese babies
- After birth is when
a child is
- An abandoned child is not named,
named, baptized, and an accepted baptized, or accepted into a
member of a family. family. Is he not human?
- The only difference between an
unborn entity and a newborn baby
is a difference in location.
- Robert Wennberg (1985) writes,
surely personhood and the right
to life is not a matter of
location. It should be what you
are, not where you are that
determines whether you have a
right to life.
Bioethicists such as
Beckwith has found one fundamental
often believe that life begins as difficulty with this line of
soon as the brain begins to reasoning:
function, which occurs approximately
40 to 43 days following conception.
- According to Brody,
- "Brain death indicates the end of
if something can be classified as human life as we know it, the
fully human, "we must first see . . dead brain having no capacity to
. what properties are such that revive itself. But the develop-
their loss would mean the going out ing embryo has the natural
of existence (the death) of a human capacity to bring on the func-
being." Brody concludes that tioning of the brain" (Andrew
because brain death signifies the Varga 1984). The irreversible
end of human existence, then the absence of brain waves
beginning of human existence must signifies death; however, an
occur when a functioning brain unborn entity has the capacity
becomes present. to have brain waves and cannot be
considered to be something other than
human based on this line of reasoning.
The time at which an
Andrew Varga finds three main flaws
survive outside of the mother's in the viability theory:
womb is known as viability.
Viability is an often used deter- - First, "how does viability trans-
minant to mark the beginning of form the nature of the fetus so
life. Most people who support this that the nonhuman being then
theory will argue that "prior to turns into a human being?"
this time, since the unborn Viability is a measure of medical
cannot survive independent of her technology, the neonatal life-
mother, she is not a completely support system, and not a measure
independent human life and hence of humanity.
not fully human." - Second, "is viability not just an
extrinsic criterion imposed upon
the fetus by some members of
society who simply declare
that the fetus will be
accepted at that moment as a
Viability is an arbitrary
criterion that does not answer
the question of whether the fetus
is fully human.
- Third, "the time of viability
cannot be determined precisely,
and this fact would create great
practical problems for those who
hold this opinion."
Several ethicists today
Francis Beckwith also holds
set forth criteria which must be several objections to this theory
met before anyone can be consid- about when life begins.
ered fully human. Ethicists use
a couple different means to
defend this position:
- A distinction needs
to be made
- John Jefferson Davis writes, "Our
between "being a human" and ability to have conscious
"being a person." The homo sapiens experiences and recollections
species does include the unborn; arises out of our personhood; the
however, the unborn are not true basic metaphysical reality of
persons because they have not yet personhood precedes the unfolding
met a set of personhood criteria of the conscious abilities
such as having feelings, awareness, inherent in it." Therefore, the
and an interactive experience. unborn entity is a person simply
because it has the natural
capacity to function as a person.
Beckwith further supports this
idea: "The unborn are not
potential persons but persons
with much potential.
- Beckwith quotes ethicist
- Beckwith refutes this position
Tooley to relate this theory to the by summarizing Jane English.
issue of abortion. Tooley states "We consider it morally wrong
that a being "cannot have a right to to torture beings that are non-
continued existence unless he persons, such as dogs or birds,
possesses the concept of subject although we do not say these
experiences, the concept of a tem- beings have the same rights as
poral order, and the concept of persons." Thus even if the
identity of things over time." Thus unborn is not viewed as a person,
only those entities that function in it still deserves the protection
the desired way deserve the right to that society is willing to bestow
life. upon completely nonhuman
The above ultrasound portrays an 8 week old fetus. Many proponents of decisive theories do not believe that this fetus is a living human because it has not met all of the criterion that they have set forth.
different theories exist which state that human life begins at a decisive
moment. The number of decisive moments offered by various theories are
numerous, though. According to these theories, life could begin as soon
as the egg is implanted in the mother's womb, as soon as the unborn entity
appears human, or once the unborn could survive outside the mother's womb.
However, these theories are all based on reasoning; a lack of sound scientific
evidence is apparent with each theory. Therefore, determining the beginning
of human life in accordance with one of these theories becomes nearly impossible
as people use logic to argue both sides of every issue.
Return to Philosophic Theories.