Kant Philosophy And Utilitarian Views On Abortion
The concept of abortion can be rooted far beyond the idea of “killing” an embryo. The complex thought of abortion is patient to other complicating issues such as morals, sex, and choices (Baird and Rosenbaum; 2005). Consequently, it is essential to examine these many issues to completely comprehend the ethical considerations that bound abortion dilemmas. Anti-abortionists straightforwardly find reasons to maintain the prohibition of abortion with the stress on abstinence as well as one’s liability in relation to unprotected sex, and religious value which renders pro-abortionists to firmly oppose those reasons by stressing the positive, or even more, the rational matters of abortion. These aspects cover apparent reasons like a mother’s natural instinct, rape, the thought of murder, and the fact that the exact issue of abortion is the result of the life the embryo can have given that it had not been ended.
This paper discusses the two sides of the controversial issues revolving around abortion by taking note of the philosophical viewpoint of Immanuel Kant who claims moral duty and the utilitarian philosophy of J. S. Mill who is in favor of the concept of “the greatest good” expounding their particular theories in the process. Furthermore, this paper presents an understanding on why abortion is taken into account as a moral dilemma and not simply a controversial matter.
Utilitarianism vs. Moral Duty
At the front of the rights and duties theory under the ethical behavior of writings published by Immanuel Kant, who claimed that a “right” put forward the reality of some situation to which persons are allowed basically since they are human beings or citizens of a state (Beiser, 2002). Together with subsistence of rights, Kant indicated that also comes with the subsistence of “duties.” Kant’s theory takes note of a person’s rights as irreducible, meaning they are not to be exchanged or condensed in any manner or at any time. This theory puts forward that there are two main types of rights: moral and legal. Legal rights pertain to those rights granted on individuals through laws provided by the government. Moral rights, alternatively, refer to rights given to every person, despite the legal system by which they are presided over
The right to live is the most apparent and most recognized of the moral rights. To be take note here is one of the most vital aspects of rights – which they subsist in a balancing relationship with responsibilities. Simply put, not only do rights given on an individual’s specific freedoms, but they furthermore oblige those individuals to permit others to apply those freedoms too. In this case, the ethical dilemmas that is apparent in the validity or the simple act of aborting a fetus when disputed considering the ideology of Kant’s concept of moral duty becomes in favor of the anti-abortionists who maintain the lawful rights of an unborn child.
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