Worth and Welfare The Wrong Compromise

People still cannot agree about abortion. But partial agreement could still be useful. This book does not attempt to answer all the problems, but simply to remove certain obstacles. We first ask whether every human being has a kind of value, where the presence of such value would provide a reason why it is wrong to kill. We then consider the contention that a human being can be too undeveloped to have a right to life, a contention based on the thought that at that time it would have no good of its own. It is argued here that every organism has such a good. Lastly, we take up the fruitful, but ultimately unsatisfactory idea that there are two independent reasons, incidentals apart, for objecting to the murder of an adult: that an adult human has a value and a right. It is argued that these are best seen as two aspects of a single objection, relevant alike in regard to the killing of any human being. Book jacket.

PART I: INTRODUCTORY * PART II: WORTH * PART III: RIGHTS AND INTERESTS * PART IV: ARGUING ABOUT INTERESTS * PART V: THE IDEA OF A RIGHT TO LIFE Part I: Introductory * Part II: Worth * Part III: Rights And Interests * Part IV: Arguing About Interests * Part V: The Idea Of A Right To Life