According to Marquis, why is killing an innocent human being wrong? How does thi
ID: 3457197 • Letter: A
Question
According to Marquis, why is killing an innocent human being wrong? How does this view relate to the abortion issue? What other important implications arise from this view?
Marquis considers the ‘discontinuation account’ as a challenger to the future-like-ours account of what makes killing wrong. Describe this view. Why does that fact that it is essentially past-focused undermine the view, according to Marquis?
One might think that Marquis’ view commits him to claiming that contraception is impermissible, which would make his view implausible. How does Marquis answer that worry?
Explanation / Answer
Marquis strongly believed that killing an innocent life is wrong. He connected it to the abortion issue on the basis of two reasons. Firstly, life is sacred, so killing a human life is wrong and secondly, killing takes away someone’s personhood, so it is wrong. He says that an unborn fetus is also a life already formed and it has all the right to live.
While discussing a future like ours, Marquis says that every life whether born or unborn has the right to live as a normal human being with all the happiness, good experiences, family etc. So, depriving that right is wrong. People for their selfishness and happy life prevent another life through abortion because they are not ready to sacrifice or share their happiness and life with a new life.
He is also against the use of contraception because every time someone uses contraception, they prevent a possible life from forming. He was also arguing that masturbation too deprive a possible life.