"Boonin gives a persuasive interpretation and development of Judith Jarvis Thomson's good-samaritan argument.
He dispatches with great authority Don Marquis's future-like-ours argument. This original and carefully argued
book will revitalize the abortion controversy."
--Bonnie Steinbock, State University of New York at Albany
"David Boonin's book is must reading for anyone seriously concerned with the abortion issue. Boonin discusses
all the important perspectives. His analyses are clear and insightful. Boonin's book is the best available book
on the ethics of abortion."
--Don Marquis, University of Kansas
"I have never read a better examination of all the arguments that have been raised against abortion. Nor have
I read a better series of counter arguments against each of these arguments."
--Rosemarie Tong, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Submitted By Publisher, June, 2004
Summary
The central thesis of philosopher David Boonin is that the moral case against abortion can be shown to be unsuccessful
on terms that critics of abortion can and do accept. Critically examining a wide array of arguments that have attempted
to establish that every human fetus has a right to life, Boonin posits that all of these arguments fail on their
own terms. He then argues that even if the fetus does have a right to life, abortion can still be shown to be morally
permissible on the critic of abortion's own terms. Finally, Boonin considers a number of arguments against abortion
that do not depend on the claim that the fetus has a right to life, including those based on the golden rule, considerations
of uncertainty and a commitment to certain feminist principles, and asserts that these positions, too, are ultimately
unsuccessful. The result is the most thorough and detailed case for the moral permissibility of abortion that has
yet been written.
Table of Contents
1. Framing the debate
2. The conception criterion
3. Post-conception criteria
4. The good Samaritan argument
5. Non-rights-based arguments
