The question asked isn’t just about a possible end to a life, but whether or not life is worth continuing.
asserted
life → ask → life
Hamlet, in the soliloquy, wrestles with the question of existence and uncertainty.
asserted
Hamlet → wrestle → existence
Which is something we all must do.
asserted
we → do → ?
Which naturally brings us to baseball.
asserted
Which → bring → baseball
The familiar phrase “the tie goes to the runner” has been around since the game began.
asserted
game → go → runner
The defense must establish that first base was legally touched before the runner arrived.
asserted
runner → establish → ?
How do you resolve what appears to be a tie?
asserted
what → resolve → ?
What seems to be a tie isn’t proof that the runner won or lost.
asserted
runner → seem → ?
A failure to establish that the runner is out is not the same thing as establishing that the runner is safe.
asserted
runner → establish → ?
The uncertainty itself has a consequence.
asserted
uncertainty → have → consequence
The game has to resolve the ambiguity somehow, and the rule is designed to prevent an outcome from being declared when the evidence cannot establish it.
asserted
evidence → have → it
There have been and currently are untold arguments about when a fetus becomes a person.
asserted
fetus → become → ?
The real question isn’t about when or whether we know a fetus is a person.
asserted
fetus → know → ?
The question is whether not knowing gives us permission to act as if the fetus definitely isn’t a person.
asserted
fetus → know → permission
We could argue about what personhood is, but lack of agreement doesn’t establish that a fetus isn’t a person.
uncertain
fetus → argue → agreement
If we can agree on uncertainty, then we might be able to agree that there is at least the possibility that having an abortion constitutes the killing of a being with rights.
uncertain
having → agree → rights
The consequence of this ambiguity is that uncertainty can’t simply be assumed to presume non-personhood.
asserted
uncertainty → assume → personhood
In effect, the tie goes to the runner as a way of resolving the unresolved question without pretending that the evidence has established something it has not.
asserted
it → go → something
The baseball analogy is not meant to suggest that moral questions are governed by the rules of baseball.
asserted
questions → mean → baseball
Rather, it illustrates a broader principle about uncertainty.
asserted
it → illustrate → uncertainty
When the evidence is insufficient to establish that the runner is out, we do not resolve the uncertainty by pretending that the runner was never there or that the defense definitely succeeded.
asserted
defense → establish → uncertainty
We assign the consequence of that uncertainty according to a rule designed to avoid declaring an outcome that the evidence cannot establish.
uncertain
evidence → assign → that
Moral questions involving irreversible consequences can present a similar problem.
asserted
questions → involve → problem
If we cannot establish that a fetus is a person, that does not by itself establish that the fetus is not a person.
asserted
fetus → establish → itself
The uncertainty, therefore, becomes morally relevant, particularly when one possible error would involve the irreversible ending of a life that may possess rights.
uncertain
that → become → rights
The question then is not whether baseball determines morality, but whether the principle of not treating unresolved evidence as proof of the opposite conclusion has a place in moral reasoning.
asserted
principle → determine → reasoning
What is the moral cost if we err?
asserted
we → err → ?
Consider the precedent that accused defendants are considered innocent until proven guilty.
asserted
defendants → consider → precedent
They are housed and provided meals, as well as medical care, at least until the case is resolved.
asserted
case → house → meals
Of course, abortion and crimes like capital punishment are not close to equivalent, which can’t be overstated.
asserted
which → overstate → equivalent
In the case of capital punishment, the consequence of being wrong is irreversible, which is why the possibility, however small, that the defendant is innocent is presumed to exist.
asserted
defendant → presume → punishment
If there is even a small possibility that a fetus is a person, should we not afford the same presumption, or does the ambiguity make the fetus morally irrelevant?
asserted
fetus → be → presumption
Remember, we can’t establish if the fetus is a person.
asserted
fetus → remember → ?
However, this is only one half of the moral equation, as it doesn’t account for the nine months of pregnancy or the life of the mother.
asserted
it → account → mother
In effect, the woman is suffering the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.
asserted
woman → suffer → fortune
The uncertainty about personhood cannot make the cost to the woman disappear any more than the cost to the woman can make the uncertainty about personhood disappear.
asserted
uncertainty → make → personhood
So, uncertainty about personhood is not equivalent with regard to competing possibilities.
asserted
uncertainty → compete → possibilities
The possibility that the fetus is a person carries one kind of potential irreversible moral consequence, while the continuation of a pregnancy carries its own physical, psychological, and sometimes life-threatening consequences for the woman.
asserted
continuation → carry → woman
Neither possibility can simply be treated as morally irrelevant because the outcome is uncertain.
asserted
outcome → treat → ?
In fact, the moral ambiguity of a fetus does not resolve every abortion case.
asserted
ambiguity → resolve → case
…and 16 more, not listed.
The Aporia
