Indefinability, Science, and Metaphysics: The Case of the Fetus’ Ontological Personality
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14422/ee.v95.i374.y2020.003Keywords:
person, fetus, definition, mystery, problem, abortionAbstract
Faced with the question about whether the fetus should be deemed a human person, this work discusses three ways of approaching the idea of the «person» —grammatical, geometrical, and metaphysical— arguing that the fetus’ ontological personality is an edge case that forces us to use asymptotic definitions, formulated in gerund, and leaning on metaphysical claims. Scientific evidence regarding the fetus’ gestation shows (a) that this process is uninterrupted; (b) the coexistence between two independents, but nonetheless intimately related organisms; and (c) that there is evidence suggesting the fetus’ capacity to feel pain. Finally, we retrieve a theological conception of the person, affirming that treating the fetus as if she is a person goes beyond a prudential calculus of damage, and rather implies taking a stand before the «mystery», understood as a question that overflows the realm of the scientific, locating itself at the very core of human existence.
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