Abortion! My frustration with current debate.

Hello
 I apologize if I appear to be indulging in controversy for controversy's sake, the reason that i felt the need to post on this topic is so as to create an outlet for the intense frustration I have been feeling when viewing material which attempts to engage with the abortion debate. I do not approach this topic as a lover of fetuses or as a lover of reproductive freedom but as a lover of precise and well conducted argument. Precise and well conducted argument is not  something which I was faced with when i cast my eye over this topic and its media presence and, given the huge importance of decisions pertaining to abortion, I felt justified in feeling incredibly angered by this.
The very names 'pro-life' and 'pro-choice' signify immediately the way in which these two opposing groups talk past each other and in doing so fail to properly engage with indisputably important issues. I cannot help but picture a diner at a restaurant who, on complaining about a large fly in his soup, is met with a lengthy lecture on the impeccable quality of the accompanying bread and butter. These are not two sides of one argument, but instead two sides of two different arguments, neither of which readily offer any solution to the other.
If resolution to this conflict is ever to be achieved then the first step must be to agree upon the morally relevant questions! Now, I am a self confessed moral skeptic. I don't believe in right and wrong in any normatively powerful sense, but I acknowledge that most others do not share my views. I wont go on here about the flimsy nature of ethics as a whole but will instead try to stick within the confines of a world where 'right' and 'wrong' are meaningful concepts. This could prove tricky but I'm gonna give it a go so bear with me.
Here are the most fundamental morally relevant questions of this debate as I see it

1. What is an embryo? 
A lot of pro-life literature talks about the taking of innocent human life and the slaughter of babies whilst pro-choice arguments tend to employ terms like zygote. The employment of the term 'zygote' is demonstrably accurate and is also entirely neutral on the issue of the moral status of the object in question, although the clinical sounding nature of this word can lead to its being employed a a subtle implication that the object is non-living. 'Baby', on the other hand is an incredibly emotionally loaded term which contains within it the assumption that the object is living. The use of such terms in this context is often highly emotive and potentially distressing.
To my knowledge there are at this point in time NO UNIVERSALLY AGREED UPON NECESSARY AND SUFFICIENT CONDITIONS FOR HUMAN LIFE and no conclusion about the living status of an embryo can be reasonably made until such conditions have been established. The question of when life begins has yet to be satisfactorily answered by anybody on either side of the debate.

• Forcing an individual to make enormous personal sacrifices for a dead piece of tissue seems like something that could be considered wrong. Even if this tissue had the potential to gain the status of a living human, it would still  initially only have the status of a zygote and these are frequently and naturally destroyed without any mourning occurring.    
• Killing a living human in the name of reproductive freedom, feminism or potential personal benefit seems like another action which has the potential to be considered morally reprehensible.  

These are the two potential outcomes of incorrect beliefs about the status of embryos which I identify as having the potential to be considered morally dubious. As we currently have no informed method of forming beliefs about the status of embryos, and we need laws to govern abortion now, I believe the question that needs to be asked is that of which of these is the lesser evil. 

2. Is forcing an individual to make enormous personal sacrifices for a dead piece of tissue always wrong?

Frankly I cannot imagine a circumstance in which this deprivation of personal freedom would not be considered wrong. To add an emotive element here I could relate stories of the terrible lives lead by many unprepared mothers and their children but I cannot see why this should be necessary. If there are factors I have failed to consider in my abrupt answer to this question I would of course be willing to consider them. 

3. Is the destruction of human life always wrong?

This, I believe, is the crux of the matter and this is the point that the abortion debate needs to reach if it is to become constructive. the pro-life position on this question is quite clear, though the question of its validity remains important and an answer has by no means been settled upon. Any attempt to assert that an embryo definitely is a living human can most likely be dismissed unless an extremely good set of evidence is presented, but i'm sure that potential killing is something that these activists can become equally aggravated about.  If the pro-choice group wish to engage with their opponents they need to acknowledge that they do not know whether or not abortion destroys human life and need to decide whether or not they are comfortable with the prospect of this occurring. If they are, they need to tackle head on the issue of why the destruction of human life in instances of abortion is acceptable. 

I personally believe that exceedingly strong arguments exist to support the position that the destruction of human life is not intrinsically wrong and not wrong in all circumstances. These are not arguments which I will state here, now but they are arguments which I would beg the pro-choice movement to engage with. I might also suggest a name change. 

The answers of others to the questions I have proposed may well be different from my own, but it is of greater concern to me that a well reasoned debate can be had than that one or other side should triumph. There is so much potential for constructive discussion once everyone reaches a point where they are asking and answering the same questions. 

I'm sorry to go on so, but I really do care about reason.

L

xxx

Busy making plans.

Hey!
 I have been in my pajamas all day :) you would think that that would mean that i had done nothing productive but, astonishingly, this is not the case! I have planned out huge swathes of my summer all from the cozy comfort of my bed. 
I'm in one of those optimistic, list-making moods today and the world had better watch out! (at some point in the future...)
My happiness is assured so long as i can find enough things to write on my list that the writing of them occupies all of my time and leaves no time for me to complete those pesky tasks which require me to leave my bedroom.
Wouldn't it be fantastic if there were such a thing as an exertion loan which one could take out... I could reap the benefits of my future exertion now and concentrate all of the tediousness and effort necessitated into one day. I could have some food in my cupboard now but go out to buy it on a warm sunny day when I am appropriately attired for a trip to Sainsburys, I could begin reading all the useful library books now which I intend to go and collect when I have the patience to wait for the bus to campus. But alas, I can see no way that such a bargain could be struck and so my productivity is capped by the stubborn and rigid structure of causality.
May the tasks on your list always be imminently tick-able!
L
xxx

PhD Success!!

Dear University of Aberdeen
 THANK YOU SO MUCH! for my funded place doing a PhD in interdisciplinary studies in epistemology!
I AM SO EXCITED!!! somewhat nervous about moving all the way up to Scotland but it looks like a lovely part of the world so I can spend lots of time exploring!
Look at me with a life plan and a brand new set of Cath Kidston document wallets, somebody could almost mistake me for a grownup!
Now be gone headache! there is no place for you in my jubilant musings!
Love
L
xxx

Sunny Singapore! and my less than promising breeding prospects...

Hey!
 I'm in Singapore and it is lovely! Its warm and clean and green! And the food!! Oh my the food!! I need to stop thinking about it before I start to salivate all over my keyboard but just know that Hor Fun is well worth the embarrassment I feel on pronouncing it!
So anyways today I went across the border to Malaysia. Circumstances prohibited me from doing any real exploring but I did enjoy a leisurely afternoon by the pool, which was nice. When I had reached my chlorine tolerance limit I decided I might as well try to get something productive done and whiled away a few hours reading 'Current Issues in Teleology'. I was pleasantly surprised by how engaging and relevant to my study area some of the essays were, especially those which touched upon Darwinism, however this feeling of cheeriness has now dissipated substantially as I am currently feeling the full effects of my having been so absorbed in my reading. Whilst a good book may allow one to shut out the world from ones thoughts it certainly does not enable the body to be so effectively insulated and I have developed a sore awareness of just how ill prepared my pasty body was for the persistent rays of the midday Malaysian sun... ouch :(
The mildly ironic result of today is that, in turning my attention  natural selection, I have turned myself into one of the most unattractive creatures that has ever had the nerve to present itself. I am currently an exemplar case of a creature which is in no way effectively adapted to its environment and the chances of anybody seeing reproductive potential in my red and wincing form is hanging somewhere around the zero mark.
I hope that your day leaves you substantially less singed!
L
xxx

Procrastinating with Purpose! Science, Teleology, Religion and Ethics!

Howdy!
 So its essay time again! its actually technically been essay time for some time but it has taken me a little while to come to terms with this... I've done that silly thing again of coming up with an argument before doing any background reading! This isn't quite as ignorant a thing to do as it sounds, I think I have a reasonable grasp of the concepts I want to work with, and I have discussed them in lectures at length and done a lot of valuable introspection regarding my position, what i have not done is prepared myself to fulfill the necessarily quota for academic name dropping set out by the university.
My chosen topic- Teleology and science! which I was pretty excited about until i started searching blindly for academic literature on the subject! The point that I want t make is that, whilst scientific endeavors are usually undertaken with some purpose in mind, the selection of this purpose will most likely be unable to be shown to have a sound scientific justification. This position, I believe, has all sorts of exciting implications, for one thing it puts an interesting slant on certain religiously oriented discussions pertaining to science, it also has a whole lot of impact in the field of scientific ethics.
Whilst not religious myself I do have some sympathy for those who do believe in God and do not trust the morality of those who do not. Where does morality come from if it is not something woven into the universe at creation? In a religious picture the value of everything is written onto it like washing instructions on a garment of clothing; dry clean only, do not murder and saw limbs off, Simple!  If we accept a commonly held view of God and his role in forming reality then we accept that there is some purpose manifested in nature and the condemnation of actions which defy that purpose might seem understandable. If however we see our existence, and the existence of everything we encounter, as something in no way governed by some wonder-being  then where on earth do the 'shoulds' and 'should nots' that we all throw around get their authority from! Is there some empirical method of discovering why I shouldn't  harvest the organs of my housemates whilst they sleep? Can such a conclusion be reached through logical deduction from uncontroversial premises? I am unconvinced that either of those questions can be answered positively yet I desperately hope that this unfounded imperative of not slicing up those you live with is strong enough to keep my housemates away from my kidneys!
Sleeping with the door locked from now on!
L
xxx

I need a PhD to ponder professionally!

Hello!

 So recently I've sort of given up on the whole 'trying to find a job I might like and be competent at' thing and have been hurling all of my energies into PhD applications! This process has proved exhausting. I love epistemology, really I do but never has this affection been so strained. I have a good idea of the research that I want to do, but unfortunately this research falls into a sort of vague interdisciplinary area which nobody is offering specific funding for. I have had to rewrite my research proposal over and over again to try to make it appeal to philosophy departments, sociology departments and next, science communication departments and a couple of ethics enthusiasts. I am so tired of having to align my interests with preexisting channels of thought! My life would be so much easier if I could just win over some wealthy eccentric who would find contentment in providing me with the funds to follow my own train of thought in peace! I have been offered a place at one university already, but unless they also offer me a studentship i'm afraid I will be forced to turn them down. I wont find out about that until May and i think i risk permanent deformity if i keep my fingers crossed for that long. 

Please please, if this message comes to the attention of some greater power, be that power of  divine or economic origins,  let them help me on my journey to the wonderful life to which i have been told i would be so suited, that of a socially stunted academic recluse.

Love

L

xxx

 

I ordered my sides split!

Hey!
 So last night I went to see some student comedy on campus and I must say that I was surprised by the quality of some of the performances. The sketch comedy, though amusing in parts, was veiled in the mandatory level of awkwardness but  some of the stand up was genuinely impressive.
I have the utmost admiration for everybody who was involved, personally I cannot think of anything more petrifying than overtly taking on responsibility for the amusement of a large group of silently seated strangers. Its one thing to be funny in conversation where you can slip in and out of humorous context at will, but to be on a stage imprisoned in that genre regardless of how it is received seems like it has the potential to be endlessly burdensome.
I like to make people laugh, its fun and quite gratifying but I find that a whole lot harder to do when people expect amusement. once you take comedy out of the comfortable setting of conversation it becomes a sort of service and an audience has a sense of entitlement to see that service delivered effectively to them with little to no effort on their part. Those with the ability to deliver this service may well have a long and successful career lapping the comedy circuit but what should be remembered is that this is an ability entirely separate from that of being funny. Not all funny people make good comedians. This doesn't make them any less funny, the ability to effectively play off the contributions of others and knowledge of their interests and mannerisms is a skill in itself and one worthy of appreciation. It is just unfortunate that it tends not to be a skill with any direct moneymaking potential.
On a tenuously related note, as we think about undervalued humour I think we should take a few moments out of our day to ponder something. In this hectic modern world which we inhabit technologies  are moving quicker than ever from state of the art to woefully outdated. An issue that I feel is rarely given enough attention is that, as we say goodbye to these devices of bygone times, we also say goodbye to the humour that they inspired. As one generation hands the comedic baton to the next, jokes about VHS and cassette tapes will undoubtedly be put to rest in the same way that so many other once topical observations have been. They will take their place in the graveyard of the generationally irrelevant alongside witticisms about Walkmans, snaps about steam trains, quips about quills and puns about penny-farthings and and I for one hope that their loss will be duly mourned.
In light of this let us all look with a new found respect at the humble knock knock joke which has, against all the odds, survived the invention of the doorbell and lives on to inspire strained chuckles across the globe.
Have a nice day :)
L.
xxx