| I think it is important to state that, pre-birth, a human being has about the same level of conciousness as a bird or insect. As a mind, this is usually classified as gregorian. Second order representation is something that is inherently and distinctly human. Killing humans at the pre-birth stage effects the conciousness of that being much like killing a bird or spider. Yet, we dont make nearly as big a deal about these things for obvious reasons. Birds and spiders do not exhibit the capacity to understand their role in the world. Neither does a partially developed fetus. The only differing characteristic is that the fetus has the POTENTIAL to grow into something that does. This is where anti-abortionist arguments should begin. However, the obvious flaw that ensues is that consciousness is static at every moment, and so it is nothing short of nonesensical to base an argument on the potentiality of a consciousness. Because, if this were true, every time I masterbate there should be picketers outside my home protesting. |