value of life

Connor Newlin

 

                Marquis and Thomson offer a lot of interesting takes on both sides of the abortion. One argument that they propose is that a being isn’t considered life until it is conscious enough to value its own life and its future. A counter argument is made to combat this statement quickly and I completely agree because this initial argument about life seems so ridiculous that it actually angered me. This would mean that infants that have been born into this world for a fair amount of time are not considered conscious beings that deserve to live. If a baby is not valued by anyone including its parents and it is not intelligent enough to value itself that makes it a creature that is not considered living according to this argument. This would mean all orphaned children would be disregarded at a young age and thought of as mere animals. Even animal’s lives are valued and I think that they can know their lives are important which is why they keep themselves out of danger as much as possible.

                I think things have value even if a higher life form doesn’t put value on them. An animal will value its young and protect to certain extremes quite often. Humans keep and remember certain things that at the time think have no value but realize that there is a possibility of valuing it later. This is especially true in the case of human beings. A baby may not seem to hold any value to you but this baby has the potential to grow up and save your life which is reason enough to save a baby whose life is in danger.