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From: rlr@pyuxd.UUCP (Rich Rosen)
Newsgroups: net.abortion
Subject: Re: \"Words mean what I pay them to mean . . .\"
Message-ID: <1489@pyuxd.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 14-Aug-85 00:21:31 EDT
Article-I.D.: pyuxd.1489
Posted: Wed Aug 14 00:21:31 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 20-Aug-85 00:49:32 EDT
References: <419@cmu-cs-spice.ARPA>
Organization: Whatever we're calling ourselves this week
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> The only reason we were on the 'alive' issue at all is that Rich Rosen
> kept insisting that fetuses are not alive despite biology to the contrary.
> If you believe that ALIVE(fetus) = ALIVE(rock) = FALSE, you don't need to
> grapple with the real issues; since non-living things don't have rights,
> you can immediately jump to the conclusion that abortion is OK.  But the
> problem with this argument is that the fetus IS a living thing, and so you
> do need to grapple with the real issues after all. [NEWTON]

I don't have to repeat for the readers how badly Mr. Newton argues.  Many
many people have mentioned how broad the definition of alive and not alive
really is.  Yet he INSISTS that it is a black and white dichotomy:  if it's
not alive, it's like a rock.  Perhaps it could be not alive and like a virus.
Maybe that's why you insisted that discussion of whether viruses are alive
didn't belong here:  to discuss it might do damage to your balck and white
argument.
-- 
"to be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best night and day
 to make you like everybody else means to fight the hardest battle any human
 being can fight and never stop fighting."  - e. e. cummings
	Rich Rosen	ihnp4!pyuxd!rlr