Citation

Gayman C. Metaphilosophy 2007; 38(4): 431-439.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1467-9973.2007.00492.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In this article I argue against the rights-based framework defining the abortion debate, and do so by considering the views of Beth Singer, a philosopher whose work conveys a broadly pragmatist formulation of traditional rights-based language. Although Singer's schema presents a fruitful vantage point from which to consider the abortion question through the discourse of rights, even Singer's use of the language of rights ultimately fails adequately to address the subject. I challenge Singer's view by taking up John Dewey's concept of reflective morality, elucidated in his 1932 Ethics.