Does it circulate oxygen? Yes. And just like you, if that oxygen supply is cut off it dies.
As for reasoning, it reasons as well as any new born baby's brain does.
of course you have proof?
Does it circulate oxygen? Yes. And just like you, if that oxygen supply is cut off it dies.
As for reasoning, it reasons as well as any new born baby's brain does.
I'd have to disagree. I'd say it's a legal, not scientific, definition. Consciousness and life are such abstract concepts that they can by no means be defined scientifically; the best we can do is establish legal benchmarks.
After all, how would you go about carrying out an experiment to see if without brain activity there is no consciousness? The person can't respond and is likely to die soon after. So we could never ask him if he was conscious at all? What about NDE's?
And how do we define life exactly? By breathing rate, heart rate? A person could still be alive for a short time even without breathing and heartrate. And again, as for no brainwaves, then we can't even begin to conduct the experiment to find out. So in fact, none of this is entirely scientific. Science plays a role to establish legal benchmarks based on the limited knowledge we do know, but that's as far as it can go.
It does in fact breathe, albeit a little unconventionally by our standards once we're out into the open. As for reasoning, can we prove that it can't reason?
I'd rather be safe than sorry, and so as for me, I'd define life as starting at conception, not at some random rounded off time during pregnancy.
If you believe government has no place in morality, then we ought to decriminalize random killing. If you believe random killing should be illegal, then you believe that government has a place in morality. And believe it or not, we could prbably get into a whole discussion of where to draw the line in that grey area between accidental killing and assassination. There's a whole spectrum of ideas out there.
Science has proven that brain activity is the defining factor of consciousness, and is the benchmark they use in hospitals to decide if someone is dead or alive. So long as a fetus has brain activity, it is as human as your or I. Requiring the full protection of its mother, yes, but human and alive nonetheless.
of course you have proof?
as a side ponder....
I can't help but feel to a certain degree that men have been programmed in recent decades to believe that women's rights are granted only through the removal of status from others, and that they supersede all else in all other ways.
That a human fetus, with a human brain, functioning like any other human brain, a beating heart, moving limbs, scientific proof of dreaming, would be brushed off as something less than human, less than alive, 'just incase' will never cease to blow me away.
People with massive brain trauma who will be on life support for the rest of their lives have brain activity. If they didn't they'd be dead. That is a poor choice for the rationale of "life"
Stem cells have life. That means we should never through them out with the petrie dish?
Science has proven that brain activity is the defining factor of consciousness, and is the benchmark they use in hospitals to decide if someone is dead or alive. So long as a fetus has brain activity, it is as human as your or I. Requiring the full protection of its mother, yes, but human and alive nonetheless.
Consciousness is a type of mental state, a way of perceiving, particularly the perception of a relationship between self and other. It has been described as a point of view, an I, or what Thomas Nagel called the existence of "something that it is like" to be something.
Consciousness may involve thoughts, sensations, perceptions, moods, emotions, dreams, and self-awareness. It has been defined from a biological and causal perspective as the act of autonomously modulating attentional and computational effort, usually with the goal of obtaining, retaining, or maximizing specific parameters, such as food, a safe environment, family, or mates.
The issue of what consciousness is, and to what extent and in what sense it exists, is the subject of much research in philosophy of mind, psychology, neuroscience, cognitive science, and artificial intelligence. Issues of practical concern include how the presence of consciousness can be assessed in severely ill individuals.
In common parlance, consciousness sometimes also denotes being awake and responsive to the environment, in contrast to being asleep or in a coma.
So you'd argue that a person fully functioning, fully grown, has more right to visit violence upon a woman and kill a fetus, than a fetus has a right to live? How does that work exactly Prax?My reasoning is based around those currently living, who currently have a life, who can function independantly on their own, who have their own consciousness.
The brain, heart and limbs that move are not complete, they are in progress of development.... if they wernt, then they're ready to be born if fully developed. Just because it looks like a human and has all the parts of a human, doesn't mean it can survive like a human without the resources it takes from the mother.
See my life support example above.
By all means, show me the proof of "dreaming."
I know there will be electronic signals being transfered through the brain at a certain stage of development, because all these parts need to be biologically tested and developed in order to reach the point of a fully developed human. This can be related to muscle twitching and growth..... these signals all need to be active and functioning in order for development to continue.....
..... but that doesn't mean there is consciousness.
I don't have solid proof that YOU reason. Cognition is not a concrete aspect of science, and there is no evidence that the brain suddenly turns on upon birth. I've seen studies that prove that fetuses dream, so one could conclude that their brains are functioning just as well as a new born's would. I have no more 'proof' that they have any more or less reasoning capacity, than you have.
Once again, take the fetus away from those resources and it dies.
It does in fact breathe, albeit a little unconventionally by our standards once we're out into the open. As for reasoning, can we prove that it can't reason?
I'd rather be safe than sorry, and so as for me, I'd define life as starting at conception, not at some random rounded off time during pregnancy.
You argument at best is weak and that's why far greater minds than ours have determined that abortion is legal.
The fetus does literally breath within the womb, although those are reflexes through development that occurs in the womb, as it inhales and exhales fluid..... the oxygen comes directly from the mother.
The baby doesn't scream, it doesn't cry, it doesn't start reaching out and grabbing or looking around with awareness until after it is born and smacked on its arse to induce breathing on its own..... we can all speculate when life starts..... I speculate it occurs once you are born.
The baby doesn't scream, it doesn't cry, it doesn't start reaching out and grabbing or looking around with awareness until after it is born and smacked on its arse to induce breathing on its own..... we can all speculate when life starts..... I speculate it occurs once you are born.
OMG... you're arguing abortion? Read through.
I disagree with you. Life begins when a body? can breath on its own. I do agree that abortion is a very poor method of birth control. The problem is that the ones who are opposed to abortion are mostly opposed to birth control as well and many are even opposed to sex education as well. There are far too many unwanted pregnancies that result in unwanted kids that wind up costing taxpayers huge sums every year. If you are opposed to abortion then you should adopt an unwanted child every year.I believe that life begins at conception.
However, I also believe that politicians ought to keep promises. I would agree with legally recognizing life to begin at conception, but now that Harper has promised not to open this debate, I think he ought to keep his word. After all, all religions teach us to be honest.
How much does the abortion debate affect my electoral choices? Well, I appreciate honesty and integrity even more. If a politician disagrees with me on the abortion debate but is honest about his beliefs and does what he promises to do, I'm likely to vote for him over a politician I agree with on abortion but plays sneeky games to get his way.
I also believe that other factors are as important as abortion. For instance, though I don't agree with abortion, I also believe that society ought to ensure that the mother gets the educaiotn she needs to be able to stand on her own two feet.
In this sence I could say that I'm economically conservative (example, inflation, debt, interest rates, taxes), socially progressive (example, UN, international peace, world federation, ensuring that the poorest get an education) and morally conservative (pro-life, etc.). So in Canada it can be difficult to find a party with the right mix.