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utsfl:classroom:seminars:pba301h [2013/09/30 14:51] – moved from PBA401H balleyne | utsfl:classroom:seminars:pba301h [2021/03/18 20:59] (current) – some notes on the Fellows debate with YPY balleyne | ||
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- | ====== PBA301H: | + | ====== PBA301H: |
- | Prerequisites: | + | |
- | * congenital disorders; pre-natal screening, amniocentisis; | + | |
- | * Genetic abnormalities: | + | |
- | * anencephaly | + | |
- | * Fetal Alcohol Syndrome | + | |
- | * trivial: cleft palate | + | |
- | * double effect: ectopic pregnancy | + | |
- | ===== Resources ===== | + | Human life begins at fertilization. Fertilization is the creation of a new individual organism. |
- | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch? | + | * [[https://lozierinstitute.org/a-scientific-view-of-when-life-begins/ |
+ | This is bad news for abortion advocates. Many become anti-science or try to shift the question. | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===== Misapplying Terms ===== | ||
+ | |||
+ | * FIXME Dr. Fellows debate with Maaike on March 18, 2021: | ||
+ | * He was conflating the term " | ||
+ | * "Live birth" doesn' | ||
+ | * He's misapplying a term from OB/GYN to embryology | ||
+ | * He contradicted himself by using terms like "fetal death" or " | ||
+ | * FIXME people confuse viability with vitality | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===== Anti-Science Doubt ===== | ||
+ | The author of the CSB328H textbook apparently contests that there is a clear scientific answer((http:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | > “Are scientists agreed that human life begins at fertilization? | ||
+ | > | ||
+ | > (Scott Gilbert: | ||
+ | |||
+ | See also: | ||
+ | * [[https:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===== Scientific Debate? ===== | ||
+ | Let's take these four positions in reverse order: | ||
+ | ==== The birthday view ==== | ||
+ | > The fourth position is that human life begins when it can be metabolically independent from the mother, the traditional “birthday.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | Does any credible scientific source actually believe this? With in utero surgery, with neo-natal intensive care units and viability near the mid-point of pregnancy? That "human life begins at birth"? | ||
+ | |||
+ | This is not a scientifically defensible position. This is just the dependency error in SLED. Being metabolically independent does not tell us when a new individual human organism has come into existence -- just when that new human organism is metabolically independent. | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== EEG View ==== | ||
+ | > A third position is that human life begins when the human-specific electroencephalogram (EEG) is acquired at around 25 weeks. Since our society has defined human death as the loss of the EEG pattern (and not, say, when the heart stopping or the cells dye), some scientists have argued that the acquisition of this EEG pattern be considered the time when the fetus becomes human. | ||
+ | |||
+ | First, there is huge debate over [[wp> | ||
+ | |||
+ | Second, note the qualifier " | ||
+ | |||
+ | But more importantly, | ||
+ | |||
+ | Brain death is the complete and irreversible loss of the pattern. Afterwards, there' | ||
+ | |||
+ | The acquisition of the pattern is an age-dependent feature of human development. This is just the level of development error in SLED. The EEG pattern doesn' | ||
+ | |||
+ | * Using the definition of death to mark the beginning of life | ||
+ | * cardio-pulmonary death is the legally recognized point | ||
+ | * complete irreversible brain death (this specifically), | ||
+ | * fertilization is when we first //gain// that coordinating functioning | ||
+ | ==== 14 days ==== | ||
+ | > A second position is that human life begins when the embryo becomes an individual. This is the time, 14 days after fertilization, | ||
+ | |||
+ | http:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | From the CCBR classroom: | ||
+ | > Just because some humans have the ability to split into two, doesn’t mean that prior to the split one human didn’t exist. Take the case of the flatworm. If a flatworm is cut in half, each half will regenerate into two separate, fully-functioning flatworms. But prior to this separation a flatworm nonetheless existed. Likewise, even though in rare situations one human splits into two, one human existed before that split happened, and the beginning of that one human still was at fertilization. | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== Geneticist View ==== | ||
+ | This is the widely accepted view. | ||
+ | |||
+ | http:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | If we were talking about climate change, the scientific consensus would be clear despite some minority objections. But we're talking about abortion, so some in the same group of people who argue it's anti-science to blow minority objections out of proportion on climate change now become anti-science themselves and cling to the minority objections. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Ironically, this seems to be the view that Gilbert' | ||
+ | |||
+ | Dr. Gerard M. Nadal responds to Gilbert' | ||
+ | > Gilbert boxed himself in with his truthful statement relative to organismal identity. What he’s doing here is an attempt to present the reader with the broad range of opinions within the scientific community. Unfortunately for Gilbert, he speaks with great certitude of dogs possessing canine essence from the moment of fertilization until death, but does not apply that to humans for PC reasons. | ||
+ | > | ||
+ | > To see his gross inconsistency, | ||
+ | > | ||
+ | > The truth is that an organism’s essential identity, biologically speaking, is contained within its genome, its DNA. Let’s forget God and metaphysics for a moment and argue from a strictly atheistic perspective. | ||
+ | > | ||
+ | > Without the ‘contaminating’ dimensionality of religion, the science becomes clearer. | ||
+ | > | ||
+ | > An organism does not express all of its potential functions at once. Genetically, | ||
+ | > | ||
+ | > Gilbert can’t spin his way out of this one. All he can do is lay down a smokescreen to ingratiate himself with the widest audience of professors to induce their adopting his book for their courses. | ||
+ | FIXME and even if there //were// uncertainty about when a human being' | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===== Philosophical Question? ==== | ||
+ | What Gilbert is actually doing is using his credentials as a biologist while advancing a philosophical question. Of course there' | ||
+ | |||
+ | Dr. Stacy Trasancos summarizes Scott F Gilbert' | ||
+ | {{ : |