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comment by dublinben
dublinben  ·  4650 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: After-birth abortion: why should the baby live?
It's rather debatable that newborns have measurable consciousness or agency. They're more helpless than newborn animals.

Ignore the semantic issue, and consider their actual argument.





riemannman  ·  4650 days ago  ·  link  ·  
I believe that b_b is arguing that the authors are twisting semantics disingenuously to make an argument that would be obviously abhorrent to most otherwise.

Also it seems that b_b has considered their actual argument, and has responded to it in his/her post with his/her concerns.

b_b  ·  4650 days ago  ·  link  ·  
Couldn't have said it better myself!

As to your points about slavery, sacrifice, etc. I agree that what matters is how our current society views moral matters, not what generations past thought. Despite what moral absolutists say, history is clear that morals are relative. I think most people would agree that at this time in the West, killing babies is pretty universally abhorred.

Plus, on the practical side, good luck getting any doctors (ya know, that whole "First do no harm" thing) to kill a healthy newborn. That would cause PTSD in even the most hard-hearted physicians, I believe. I don't know about Australia, where this paper came from, but pretty much every state in the US has laws whereby a mother can abandon a child at a hospital, or police or fire station, no questions asked.

It seems to me that even if one can construct an academic argument in favor of infanticide, there is no practical room for it in a civilized society.

riemannman  ·  4648 days ago  ·  link  ·  
When you say "Despite what moral absolutists say, history is clear that morals are relative." I would have to disagree. I believe that the only difference people can have on the issue of morality is how they define it. It's not too hard to come to common ground with everyone on certain fundamentals of what morality constitutes (except for those who believe in things like divine command theory).

Given that morality is a system of accepted actions that benefit society (which I think is not too much of a leap), one can objectively say that things like slavery, murder, and rape are wrong.

dublinben  ·  4650 days ago  ·  link  ·  
Our abhorrence of infanticide is very recent. It was an accepted practice throughout most of human history.
riemannman  ·  4650 days ago  ·  link  ·  
As is our abhorrence of slavery. Also, on the timeline of human existence, abhorrence of human sacrifice is recent too. How recent our moral outrage is to an act does not have any say on the merits of said moral outrage.