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From: apteryx@ucbvax.ARPA (Brian Peterson)
Newsgroups: net.abortion
Subject: important distinction
Message-ID: <9754@ucbvax.ARPA>
Date: Thu, 8-Aug-85 01:47:47 EDT
Article-I.D.: ucbvax.9754
Posted: Thu Aug  8 01:47:47 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 11-Aug-85 06:34:36 EDT
Organization: University of California at Berkeley
Lines: 71
Keywords: life metabolism personality

In the English language, words can have more than one meaning.
When the particular meaning implied is not clear, and the topic
is rather emotional or controversial, there are problems.

The case in point is the word "life" (and similarly, "human").

One meaning of "life" is similar to "metabolism".  It has to do
with organs, cells, biochemical processes, instincts, reflexes,
reproduction, etc.  All plants, animals, and miscellaneous sludge
have this kind of life.  Members of the species homo-sapiens,
at all stages of development including embryos and fetuses,
have this kind of life.

A second meaning of "life" is the set or continuum of experiences
that a creature with intelligence and emotions (etc.) has while it
exists.  A "creature" having this kind of life might conceivably not
have the first kind (C3PO, HAL, etc).  The point of these examples
is not to prove that such a case exists, ("life" of the second meaning
existing independently from the first sense), but that one can concieve
of the second kind of "life" independently from the first kind.


The abortion debate might be interpreted as attempts to determine
which of the two kinds of life an unborn homo-sapiens has, combined
with attempts to decide how important the two kinds of life are.
    (This covers debates concerned purely with the qualities of the
    fetus or embryo in question.  It does not cover arguments concerned
    with the effects on the aborters.  It also does not deal with the
    "I'm glad I wasn't aborted" argument, which I feel is bogus.)


Now for my personal stand:
    I feel that it is "life" of the second meaning that is truly
>important<, when applied to homo-sapiens.  "Life" of the first meaning 
is not important, rather it is >necessary<, somewhat as paying the
rent and buying groceries is necessary.  Life of the second kind
depends on life of the first kind for existence. (When your body
gets killed, the life you are living gets messed up.  Either there
might not be "afterlife", or one might not want to proceed there
right away for various reasons :-)  Life of the first kind does not
imply life of the second kind.  (Do "lesser" creatures, such as
protozoans, "experience" there life, or are they just chemical
factories?  Where to draw the line between lower and higher
creatures is a hard question.)

I feel that the second kind of life is not present until the first
weeks or so (not exactly sure) after birth in homo-sapiens.  (I also
feel that other species, such as the gorilla and chimpanzee, have
this second kind of life.)  Thus, abortion is not very bad, since
there doesn't even exist a life of the second type in the creature
being aborted.  Prohibiting abortion is bad, becuase it interferes
with someone's life (second kind).

Other people might place different values on the two meanings of
life I described here, or they might feel that a fetus has more
experiences and feelings and concept of its environment than I.
Someone might even think that the whole issue in this article
is irrelevant.  To reconcile differences, we need to find what
assumptions differ, and determine a method to find which match
reality.  (Maybe look up psychological tests about when babies seem
to recognize people (particular or general), what kind of emotional
responses they give how soon in development, etc).  Then we need
to find where values differ, given the same "facts" (assumptions)
for both sides.  What to do with differing values is a harder problem....


Is anyone out there interested in my distinction between the two
definitions of "life" and how they relate to the abortion issue?

	Brian Peterson
	... !ucbvax!apteryx