A Discussion of Capacities and Their Relation to Human Personhood

There has been some confusion on some of my articles as to what it means for humans to have an inherent nature as rational agents, so I'd like to take the time now to expound upon just what is meant by an inherent nature, as well as the concept of capacities and what they have to do with human personhood.

Reflections on the Walk for Life

On Saturday I attended the annual West Coast Walk for Life in San Francisco, California. I think there's always a danger in occasions like this because a pro-life person can attend the Walk, make their presence known, then go back home and feel like they've done their pro-life duty for the year. But this is only the beginning. It's great that you attended the Walk, but don't let it be the last thing you do this year for the pro-life cause.

An Examination of "20 Arguments Against Abortion," Part IV

This will be the last part in a series responding to blogger Bob Seidensticker's response to pro-life arguments. You can find part one here, part two here, and part three here. And you can find the article of Seidensticker's that I'm responding to here.

An Examination of "20 Arguments Against Abortion," Part III

This will be part three in my series of replying to Bob Seidensticker's rebuttal of pro-life arguments. You can find part one here and part two here. You can find the article I'm critiquing here.

An Examination of "20 Arguments Against Abortion," Part II

In my last article, I responded to blogger Bob Seidensticker's first part of his response to certain pro-life arguments. You can find part one here. I now present part two, the original of which you can find here.

An Examination of "20 Arguments Against Abortion," Part I

So blogger Bob Seidensticker is at it again. This time, he has responded to 20 arguments against abortion and rebuts them. Many of the arguments he addresses are side issues and generally bad arguments, which I encourage pro-life people to avoid. A few of them are legitimately good arguments that Seidensticker misunderstands and misrepresents, then doesn't rebut appropriately. In other words, he attacks a strawman version of the arguments. And a few of the arguments he dismisses altogether by pointing to his Spectrum Argument, an argument that I have soundly refuted on this blog.

The Argument from Identity

I have previously explained two good arguments for the pro-life position, the Substance View and the Future of Value arguments. I would like to share with you a third. It's an argument that Alexander Pruss has termed an identity-based argument. Stephen Napier defends a similar argument which he has termed the Unity argument, but my exposition of this argument will follow Pruss' essay I Was Once a Fetus: An Identity-Based Argument Against Abortion, with additional notes by Napier where appropriate. I will merely be giving a basic exposition of the argument; I would recommend reading the essay for a more robust defense, as well as answering potential objections to the argument.

Revisiting the Bodily Rights Argument (Again)

Pro-choice blogger Deanna Young has responded to my last piece about the Responsibility Objection to the Bodily Rights argument. I would like to take the time now to offer a response to her essay.