Why the embryo rescue case is a bad argument against embryonic personhood. (20th May 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hendricks, Perry
• Other Names: Kraemer Felicitas guestEditor.; Hallich Oliver guestEditor.
• Is Part Of: Bioethics. Volume 33:Number 6(2019)
• Page Start: 669
• Page End: 673
• Publication Date: 2019-05-20
• Subjects: abortion -- cognitive science -- embryo rescue case -- intuition; Bioethics -- Periodicals; 174.957
• DOI: 10.1111/bioe.12588
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0269-9702

Abstract

Abstract: The embryo rescue case (ERC) is a thought experiment that is used to argue against the view that embryos have a right to life (i.e., are persons). I will argue that cognitive science undermines the intuition elicited by the ERC. I will show that whether or not embryos have a right to life, our mental tools will make it very difficult to believe that they do have the said right. This suggests that the intuition elicited by the ERC is not truth‐indicative. The upshot of this is that we have an undercutting defeater for our intuition that embryos do not have a right to life. Thus, the ERC is a bad argument against embryonic personhood.