Schrödinger’s Fetus

Räsänen, Joona

doi:10.1007/s11019-019-09916-4

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Consequently, no person would have ever resulted from this pregnancy and therefore nothing of moral significance has taken place in its termination. On this particular point we side with Fienberg ( 1981 ), Harman ( 1999 ), and Räsänen ( 2019 ).…”

Section: Women’s Voices – First and Lastmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The public generally affirms widespread access to abortion and yet mourns a miscarriage, or is outraged at the ‘murder’ of an early foetus during a violent attack on a pregnant person (Collins 2015 ; Chalmers 2021 ). To Harman ( 1999 ) and Räsänen ( 2019 ) the contradiction lies in two widely held intuitions. The first is that we were all early foetuses, and it would have been wrong to harm us.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Were we to know that a foetus has no actual future (such as the case of the decision to terminate the pregnancy) then no person is harmed in abortion because there never was to be an actual person. 1 Räsänen picks up Harman’s contention to argue for what he terms a ‘Schrödinger’s Fetus Model’ – foetuses are both actual and non-actual persons until a decision to continue or terminate the pregnancy is made (Räsänen 2019 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Relating to foetal persons: why women’s Voices come first and last, but not alone in Abortion debates

Milford

2023

Med Health Care and Philos

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Abortion remains a controversial topic, with pro-life and pro-choice advocates clashing fiercely. However, public polling demonstrates that the vast majority of the Western public holds a middle position: being in favour of abortion but not in all circumstances nor at any time. The intuitions held by the majority seem to imply a contradiction: two early foetuses at the same point in development have different moral statuses. Providing coherent philosophical grounding for this intuition has proved challenging. Solutions given by philosophers such as Feinberg, Harman and Räsänen are complex and do not fully account for the lived experience of pregnancy loss. This article argues for a relational ontological construction of human personhood as the basis of foetal personhood. This approach takes seriously the literature of pregnancy loss and the lived experiences of pregnant persons. Focusing on the manner in which persons relate to early foetuses (especially pregnant persons), provides a coherent ground for distinct foetal value. Importantly, this approach is both simple and intuitive. Therefore, it can be more easily adopted by middle. To counter an implied equality of human relationality, the article argues for a clear hierarchy based on relational proximity that affirms pregnant persons? primary role in deciding the moral significance of foetal termination.

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Section: Women’s Voices – First and Lastmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Relating to foetal persons: why women’s Voices come first and last, but not alone in Abortion debates

Milford

2023

Med Health Care and Philos

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“…Harman's original paper described two contradictory intuitions that the AFP is designed to reconcile: that early fetuses that die in early abortions lack moral status, and that early fetuses that survive to become persons have some moral status. According to Räsänen Schrödinger's Fetus is designed for two different contradictory intuitions: first, that 'I was once an early fetus', and second, that 'early abortion does not kill anybody, but prevents someone from coming into existence' (Räsänen 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Schrödinger’s fetus examined

Blackshaw

2019

Med Health Care and Philos

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Joona Räsänen has proposed a concept he calls Schrödinger's Fetus as a solution to reconciling what he believes are two widely held but contradictory intuitions. I show that Elizabeth Harman's Actual Future Principle, upon which Schrödinger's Fetus is based, uses a more convincing account of personhood. I also argue that both Räsänen and Harman, by embracing animalism, weaken their arguments by allowing Don Marquis' 'future like ours' argument for the immorality of abortion into the frame.

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Schrödinger’s Fetus and Relational Ontology: Reconciling Three Contradictory Intuitions in Abortion Debates

Milford,

Shaw

2023

Ethic Theory Moral Prac

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Pro-life and pro-choice advocates battle for rational dominance in abortion debates. Yet, public polling (and general legal opinion) demonstrates the public’s preference for the middle ground: that abortions are acceptable in certain circumstances and during early pregnancy. Implicit in this, are two contradictory intuitions: (1) that we were all early fetuses, and (2) abortion kills no one. To hold these positions together, Harman and Räsänen have argued for the Actual Future Principle (AFP) which distinguishes between fetuses that will develop into persons and those that will never develop into persons. However intellectually ingenious their solutions are, they fail to account for a third intuition: that the death of a wanted fetus – e.g. through termination or miscarriage – is of moral significance. Not only is this practically important, but it is also supported by public opinion. The authors of this paper argue that relational ontology can modify the AFP to better account for all three intuitions. Furthermore, it further emphasizes the pivotal role of the pregnant person who relates to their own fetus in either personal or impersonal ways. Addressing the fundamental challenges of relational ontology, the authors defend the position that human personal identity is ultimately relational.

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Schrödinger’s Fetus

Cited by 5 publications

References 23 publications

Relating to foetal persons: why women’s Voices come first and last, but not alone in Abortion debates

Relating to foetal persons: why women’s Voices come first and last, but not alone in Abortion debates

Schrödinger’s fetus examined

Schrödinger’s Fetus and Relational Ontology: Reconciling Three Contradictory Intuitions in Abortion Debates

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