Homework on "A Defense of Abortion" by Judith Jarvis Thomson

You will probably have to read the entire paper before answering these questions. What you turn in does not need to include the questions; just put the answers (and, of course, number them).



1. Thomson is criticizing the argument that abortion is wrong. This argument starts from the premise that all fetuses are people, and have the right to life from the moment of conception. Is the main point of Thomson's paper to argue that this premise is false (I'm not asking if she believe this premise is false, but rather if the goal of the paper is to show that it is false)?



2. What is the violinist example (p.3) supposed to show?



3. In paragraph 8, Thomson talks about a number of arguments that are supposed to show that abortion is "impermissible" even to protect the life of the pregnant woman. One premise she brings up is "directly killing an innocent person is always and absolutely impermissible..."

a. Write this premise ("directly killing an innocent person is always and absolutely impermissible") as a conditional, and replace "impermissible" with one of the following terms (the term which best captures what Thomson means by it): overall bad, overall good, right, wrong, acceptable.

b. Does Thomson believe this is true? If not, give the example Thomson uses to show that it is false, and say how this example is supposed to show the conditional is false.

c. Does Thomson believe that it is acceptable for women to have abortions to protect their own lives? Give a quote from Section I that supports your answer.



4. In Section 3, Thomson talks about the view that having the right to life means you have the right to be given what you need to survive.

a. Does Thomson believe this is true?

b. What example does she use to show that it is or is not true?



5. In paragraph 17, Thomson discusses the argument that women who have sex voluntarily, and get pregnant as a result, give their fetus the right to use their bodies.

a. Is Thomson convinced by this argument?

b. What is the relationship between this argument and what Thomson discusses in paragraph 18?



Remember, as part of this homework, you must turn in the conditional argument that you intend to use for Part 1 of the first paper assignment, and a brief explanation of the objection to this argument you intend to use in Part 2 of your paper.