Abortion in Philosophy

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at the issue of abortion as it may have been discussed by the philosophers Plato and Aristotle in "The Republic" and "Nicomachean Ethics", respectively. While obviously neither philosopher discussed the issue directly, the writer believes the ideas and beliefs of both of them show a definite relation to abortion. Mostly, the paper focuses on the morality aspects raised in these two works, and then relates it all back to abortion. The paper concludes that despite some differences between the two, both Plato and Aristotle would likely be against abortion, based both on the goodness of the individual and the community.

From the Paper:

"It appears that such an idea would lead to the conclusion that everything is permissible because everything leads to the good, but that is obviously not what Aristotle means. In fact, Aristotle differentiates between acts which the actor believes to be good and those that are in fact good. The woman who seeks an abortion might believe she is seeking the best for herself and the unborn fetus. However, even if that were true, Aristotle, like Plato, is designing a moral philosophy which considers not what is good for the individual alone but what is good for the community."

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