Outside of philosophical circles, I'm sorry to say, arguments concerning the issue of abortion, for and against it, usually take place within the context of strong emotional prejudices rather than with the aim to develop a deeper understanding of the issue (not to say anything about the constant conflation of the moral with the legal question). Both sides frame the issue in convenient sound-bites: the sanctity of human life on the one side, and women's right to autonomy over their own bodies on the other. Both approaches are, in my view, rather narrow and one-sided: one side focuses only on the fetuses, while the other focuses only on the mothers. Good luck getting the other side to agree with you...Interestingly, some of the most thought-provoking and promising arguments actually agree that the question of whether a fetus is a person is actually somewhat irrelevant, and in the following fascinating debate, you'll get to hear two professional philosophers, Peter Singer and Don Marquis, present well thought-out theories concerning the moral status of abortion. Agree or disagree with their views, they present a beautiful model of how issues as emotionally laden as abortion can be argued for in a cool and amiably rational fashion, developing in the process a better understanding and appreciation of the complexity behind this issue.
If you can't get the video to work, you can at least listen to it:
Hope your mind has been challenged and stimulated.
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