Judith Jarvis Thomson

There are Ingalls 3 limitations on the right to life. The example Thomson uses is the right to free speech, another right that is often debated. While we all believe, this right is important, there are limitations, like laws against threats or inciting panic. Even though free speech is a right, it is not absolute. The right…

An Exploration of Utilitarianism One common school of thought in political philosophy is utilitarianism. The utilitarian justification for the state is that the existence of a state promotes happiness better than if the state didn’t exist. One objection to this is that utilitarianism will require us to do things that we intuitively think are horrible although they might promote overall happiness. In this paper, I will argue that this objection threatens the success of the utilitarian…

An example of this is the major oversimplification of pregnancy explained by Judith Jarvis Thomson’s “A Defense of Abortion” which says “But still they did it, and the violinist is now plugged in to you. To unplug you would be to kill him. But never mind, it’s only for nine months.” Thomson uses this lengthy metaphor to explain that metaphors can easily be twisted for either side's favor, for or against abortion. However, what still…

Introduction: The book “Would You Kill the Fat Man?” by David Edmonds, presents a philosophical discussion on the ethical dilemma called the trolley problem. The situation that is proposed is that a runaway train is headed towards a group of five people who are tied to the track. Unless the train is stopped, it will inevitably kill all five of the people. You are standing nearby and have the option to pull a lever to to redirect the train to a different route, which has one man tied to the track…

theoretical ethical dilemma which is often presented to people to gauge their moral intuitions. The Trolley case has many different variations, but the one I will be focusing on is the transplant variation of the case, created by philosopher Judith Jarvis Thomson in 1976. The transplant dilemma states that, “David is a great transplant surgeon. Five of his patients need new parts…heart…liver, stomach, spleen, and spinal cord—but all are of the same, relatively rare, blood type. By chance, David…

Phil 3 Dakota Wensley Phil 3 The purpose of this paper is to analyze Judith Jarvis Thompson’s argument for the permissibility of abortion in the cases of consensual sex when contraception was used. This paper will be divided into four parts. I am going to present Thompson’s argument and analogy and present the premises and conclusion, I will then put forth the best argument against Thompson’s argument and compare the two on the basis of logic and truth, next I will attempt to speak for…

In this paper I will discuss whether or not this purposeful termination is morally permissible by referencing the well-known violinist case by Judith Jarvis Thomson. I will begin by describing Thomson’s violinist case and explaining what the case is meant to show. After which I will justify why it should be morally permissible to disconnect yourself from the violinist. Once the violinist case has been thoroughly discussed, I shall then raise disanalogies that exist between the violinist case and…

that the man has the choice to live his own life and cut off anything that hinders his success? In terms of feminism then the woman should also be able to have the chance to be free from what she considers will be a burden to her success. “Judith Jarvis Thomson ingeniously argues that even if the fetus has a right to life, it need not also have the right to use its mother 's body to stay alive” (Markowitz). This could be due to the fact that not all surgeries are safe. Having an abortion is…

Submitted By: Srijana Timalsina 1. What is reflective equilibrium? Summarize briefly but accurately the thought experiments posed (respectively) by Thomson and Dennett in their articles. Explain how the experiments are designed to affect our intuitions about specific cases and state the principles that you believe must be brought into reflective equilibrium with these intuitions. What is Martha Nussbaum’s…

Consequentialist ethical theories maintain that consequences are the basis of moral evaluation. In other words, our decisions are considered either right or wrong due to their consequences (Shaw, 5). Followers of consequentialism support this premise by adhering to four essential principles. First, consequentialists abstain from disclosing on what is considered to be ‘morally valuable’. Agents of consequentialism never reference a moral framework which prescribes proper deeds, instead, they…