PHIL 2131 GWU Using Judith Jarvis Argument to Discuss Jills Scenario Essay

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PHIL 2131

George Washington University

PHIL

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Assignment Description

Choose one of the following topics and write a single-spaced essay of at least 2000 words. Your introduction and conclusion, if any, should be no more than two sentences each. I discourage you from doing any research beyond extremely careful reading of the assigned texts. The goals of the exercise are 1) to demonstrate a precise understanding of the texts we have studied, and 2) to develop your ability to defend philosophical positions with arguments of your own. You should make extensive use of the texts by citing specific pages and, where appropriate, quoting. Give citations whenever you refer to someone else’s idea. Use any accepted citation format, but use it consistently. If you have any questions, please contact me via email or visit my virtual office hours.

BEWARE: YOU MUST RAISE AND RESPOND TO OBJECTIONS TO YOUR OWN POSITION OR YOUR GRADE WILL SUFFER. SEVERELY LATE PAPERS WILL BE PENALIZED

1. Jill takes birth control pills, using them as directed. She has voluntary sexual intercourse, knowing that she thereby runs a small risk of becoming pregnant, but hoping that she will not. She becomes pregnant. Her fetus is developing normally and poses no significant risk to her life or long-term health, but she wishes to avoid the physical burdens of pregnancy and childbirth, so she has an abortion in the second month. Judith Jarvis Thomson’s position entails that, even if we grant the fetus the same right to life as a newborn baby, Jill has not acted immorally. Explain Thomson’s argument, consider objections, and anticipate Thomson’s replies.
2. Explain what Donald Marquis considers to be the "essence" of the wrongness of killing. Which of our common beliefs does his "future-like-ours" theory capture? Can you formulate a competing theory that captures all of these beliefs? Has he convinced you that it is at least sometimes wrong to kill an unborn baby who presently has no mental states, activities, or experiences?
3. Sam is a proud gay man in his thirties. He and his long-term partner live together and enjoy a good sex life. Bob is another man in his thirties. He and his mother have lived together for years. They share a bed and regularly engage in mutually enjoyable sex acts, including intercourse. They appear to be happy with the arrangement. Bob’s mother is post-menopausal, so there’s no risk of pregnancy. She’s never been married. No one has seen Bob’s biological father since before Bob was born.
Lucinda knows both Sam and Bob. She likes them at first, but when she learns about their sex lives she is disgusted (how she finds out is unimportant). In both cases she concludes that their actions are immoral, and to roughly the same degree. "It’s unnatural for two men to have sex," she says to herself, "and it’s unnatural for a mother and son to have sex. Sam and Bob are acting wrongly and living bad lives."
Is Lucinda mistaken in her judgment of Sam? Of Bob? Of both? Of neither? Justify your answers. In doing so, consider the five different senses in which an activity might be considered unnatural, according to John Corvino. Does the unnaturalness of an activity, in any of these senses, constitute a prima facie moral reason to refrain from it?
4. Imagine a dialog with Fritz Allhoff and a critic on the subject of torture in "ticking bomb" cases. Consider both the level of principle and the level of practice.


Formatting: Compose in 12pt, Arial, single spaced and submit in DOCX, DOC, RTF, or PDF.

Textbook

  • (EL) The Ethical Life
    • Ch. 28 Thomson
    • Ch. 29 Marquis
Other Assigned Readings

Unformatted Attachment Preview

PHIL 2131 – Ethics: Theory & Application Grading Rubric for Papers Highest Possible Score: 13/13 Approximate correlations: 13=A(+); 12=A; 11=A-; 10=B+; 9=B; 8=B-; 7=C+; 6=C; 5=C-; 4=D+; 3=D; 2=D-; 1=F 1) Argumentation: Appropriate development of one’s own arguments and appropriate consideration of counterarguments 6 pts. a. Originality 2 pts. 2: Student presents theses, arguments, and objections that are not readily derivable from the assigned readings or discussions with others. 1: Theses, arguments, and objections presented are partially derivable from the assigned readings or discussions with others. 0: Theses, arguments, and objections presented are entirely derivable from the assigned readings or discussions with others. b. Persuasiveness of Argument 4 pts. 4: Student presents arguments that are highly persuasive. Both obvious and non-obvious objections are effectively addressed. 3: Arguments presented are somewhat persuasive. Some objections are addressed and with some effectiveness. 2: Arguments presented are somewhat persuasive, but even obvious objections are ignored or presented ineffectively. 1: Arguments presented are fallacious or no objections are considered. 0: Thesis is asserted but not supported with argument. 2) Sources: comprehension and effective engagement 3 pts. 3: Paper demonstrates excellent comprehension of assigned sources and engages them effectively. PHIL 2131 Paper Grading Rubric p. 1 2: Paper demonstrates moderate, but not excellent, comprehension of assigned sources and engages them somewhat effectively. 1: Paper demonstrates only minimal comprehension and/or engagement with assigned sources. 0: Paper demonstrates no comprehension or engagement with assigned sources. 3) Writing: Expression and Organization of Ideas a) Paper is well-written 4 pts. 2 pts. 2: Paper is as clearly written as the subject matter allows. It is succinct, precise, grammatical, and properly punctuated. It uses appropriate vocabulary, including technical terms when useful. 1: Paper could be written more clearly, given the subject matter. It may be to some degree verbose, imprecise, ungrammatical, and/or improperly punctuated. It may not consistently use appropriate vocabulary. It may overuse or misuse technical terms. 0: Paper is so poorly written that it cannot be understood. It may be highly verbose, imprecise, ungrammatical, and/or improperly punctuated. It may not use vocabulary appropriately. b) Paper is well-structured 2 pt. 2: The sections of the paper are ordered so as to facilitate a natural progression of ideas, as are paragraphs within sections and sentences within paragraphs. 1: The sections, paragraphs, and/or sentences of the paper are not consistently ordered so as to facilitate a natural progression of ideas. 0: The paper is severely disorganized. The sections, paragraphs, and/or sentences do not facilitate a natural progression of ideas. PHIL 2131 Paper Grading Rubric p. 2
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Surname 1
ANALYTICAL ESSAY

Using Judith Jarvis’ Argument to Discuss Jill’s Scenario
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Date

USING JUDITH JARVIS’ ARGUMENT TO DISCUSS JILL’S SCENARIO

2

Using Judith Jarvis’ Argument to Discuss Jill’s Scenario
Introduction
In the modern world, it has become necessary to understand that procreation is
different from sex, and people should use the latter to express their feeling, intimacy,
and love towards one another. This paper aims to consider situations where people take
contraceptives to avoid pregnancy after sex while being conscious, they risk becoming
pregnant. Essentially, this leads to debate over the ethics of abortion.
Thomson's argument over abortion
While arguing about the ethics of abortion, Judith Jarvis Thomson, in his article,
claims that the fetus has a right to be protected because it is a moral individual.
However, she has a differing position by claiming that despite the fetus having the moral
right to life, the bearer has a moral right to terminate it if it becomes a bother to use a
mother's resources. Judith Thomson adds that the mother has a moral right to terminate
a pregnancy when the mother's life is endangered (Shafer-Landau, 2010). Judith
supports his argument that a mother who feels her life is at risk can terminate the
pregnancy to preserve her life. Judith Thomson argues that a pregnant woman should
be allowed to enjoy individual freedom while carrying the pregnancy. In other words,
Judith Thomson tries to say that although the fetus is a developing person, the rights of
the expectant mother should prevail over the rights of the fetus. To defend his position,
Judith Thomson draws insights from various experiments.
One of the well-known experiments involves the metaphor of a violinist. In this
experiment, the violinist's kidneys are not effective, and he needs to be saved so that he
escapes death. In this situation, the Music Lovers Association has gone through the
medical records and discovered that the only person who can save the violinist is me.
As a result, they decide to kidnap me, and the next morning, I find myself connected to
the violinist's circulatory system. While still in shock, I am aware that the violinist will die
once I decide to detach myself from him (Shafer-Landau, 2010). Besides, I am also
notified that for the violinist to survive, I will have to spend nine months because that is
the only way the violinist will have recovered fully and live independently. Ideally, this
would leave me in a dilemma between choosing to detach myself ...


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