Right to Life

[Willamena]

Is there such a thing as a right to life? What does that mean?

Death comes for us all, whether religious or not. Some people may believe that "they" will live on in some form or another; others may believe that death is the extinguishment of everything.

Legislatures and courts may define it in some particular way.

What does a right to life mean to you? And why should anyone believe it?

 

[We Never Know]

Is there such a thing as a right to life? What does that mean?

Death comes for us all, whether religious or not. Some people may believe that "they" will live on in some form or another; others may believe that death is the extinguishment of everything.

Legislatures and courts may define it in some particular way.

What does a right to life mean to you? And why should anyone believe it?

What is life?
Is life defined as breathing on its own?
Is life defined as being able to survive on its own?
Is life being able to take care of itself?
What makes anything being worthy enough to be called a life?

 

[sun rise]

There is of course a biological definition. There is the moral/ethical right noted in the US Declaration of Independence. There are current political fights over that including the status of the fetus and whether or not right to life includes health care.

What does it mean to me personally? The atman/soul is alive whether or not it's in a physical body or not. But once it enters a physical body it should be allowed to complete the purpose for which it took that body if at all possible.

 

[Heyo]

Is there such a thing as a right to life? What does that mean?

Death comes for us all, whether religious or not. Some people may believe that "they" will live on in some form or another; others may believe that death is the extinguishment of everything.

Legislatures and courts may define it in some particular way.

What does a right to life mean to you? And why should anyone believe it?

"Right" is a juridical term. It means that the institution (the government) granting that right promises (in a constitution or other law) within their means to uphold that right and prosecute anyone trying to violate (or having successfully violated) that right.
The right to life is on the UN human rights list and all civilized nations have implemented it in their constitutions.

 

[stvdv]

Is there such a thing as a right to life? What does that mean?

IMNO:
No. Bible says child must obey father. It's okay to offer (kill) your child (age is not mentioned). So, anywhere between -9 month upto death it seems.

Plenty people kill people and animals. Animals also kill animals and people

Obvious (as in 'it's a fact') this is God's Will, assuming it's God's creation (Will <> Wish)

 

[Brian2]

Is there such a thing as a right to life? What does that mean?

Death comes for us all, whether religious or not. Some people may believe that "they" will live on in some form or another; others may believe that death is the extinguishment of everything.

Legislatures and courts may define it in some particular way.

What does a right to life mean to you? And why should anyone believe it?

It probably means a right to not be killed.

 

[Hermit Philosopher]

Is there such a thing as a right to life? What does that mean?

Death comes for us all, whether religious or not. Some people may believe that "they" will live on in some form or another; others may believe that death is the extinguishment of everything.

Legislatures and courts may define it in some particular way.

What does a right to life mean to you? And why should anyone believe it?

Dear Willamena,

To me, it means one’s right to one’s body and what happens to it. It includes one’s right to remain alive but also one’s right not to, if that is what one wants.

In practice, seen as one’s right to one’s body, right to life is often a negative right: one’s right to not eat/ not procreate/ not receive treatment against one’s own will. Also, of course, to not be killed - against one’s own will.

“Against one’s own will” to me, is the key phrase in one’s right to life and right to one’s body.

So, if your post is in relation to our views on abortion; personally, I’d say that I don’t think an embryo or foetus has will… although I guess medically speaking, it could be argued that it does have a purely physical will to survive; I don’t know. Women however, certainly do have will and a right to their bodies and what happens to them, I feel.


Humbly
Hermit

 

[Brickjectivity]

Is there such a thing as a right to life? What does that mean?

Death comes for us all, whether religious or not. Some people may believe that "they" will live on in some form or another; others may believe that death is the extinguishment of everything.

Legislatures and courts may define it in some particular way.

What does a right to life mean to you? And why should anyone believe it?

The right to life means that the government must not stop your heart, your breathing, your ability to eat. It does not mean the government must maintain your ability to eat, keep your heart going, keep you breathing when your lungs fail. It is called a 'Negative right'.

Positive rights are much more difficult to sustain than negative ones. To recognize a negative right all that is required is inaction. A positive right is much different. For example if the right to life was a positive right that would mean the government was responsible to keep you alive forever or to keep you alive if at all possible. The government would be required to monitor your well being. You have some positive rights like the right to be informed, but governments may not recognize this right. They may not defend it. They may only partially defend it. It takes effort, and effort is more difficult than inaction. Positive rights are weaker or less likely to be enforced than negative ones. All it takes is an excuse or lack of resources.

 

[MikeF]

Is there such a thing as a right to life? What does that mean?

Death comes for us all, whether religious or not. Some people may believe that "they" will live on in some form or another; others may believe that death is the extinguishment of everything.

Legislatures and courts may define it in some particular way.

What does a right to life mean to you? And why should anyone believe it?

Any right is the creation of the societal group. How society delineates and codifies that right varies depending on the political system in place.

I am unaware of an existing political system or society in which a right to life is unequivocal. There always seems to be conditions upon which the taking of a human life is acceptable or justified.

 

[Fool]

There is of course a biological definition. There is the moral/ethical right noted in the US Declaration of Independence. There are current political fights over that including the status of the fetus and whether or not right to life includes health care.

What does it mean to me personally? The atman/soul is alive whether or not it's in a physical body or not. But once it enters a physical body it should be allowed to complete the purpose for which it took that body if at all possible.

at what point does the atman enter the dwelling?


can two atman's occupy the same body without it being considered possession?

 

[Fool]

It probably means a right to not be killed.

exercorcisms are performed all the time for two spirits occupying the same body and in different cultures.

 

[Suave]

Is there such a thing as a right to life? What does that mean?

Death comes for us all, whether religious or not. Some people may believe that "they" will live on in some form or another; others may believe that death is the extinguishment of everything.

Legislatures and courts may define it in some particular way.

What does a right to life mean to you? And why should anyone believe it?

Please let us agree to the notion of "right to life" as pertaining strictly to persons or conscious beings. A person may be universally defined as being somebody who has experienced consciousness. Only people can be murdered. A fetus is not a conscious being, and therefore it is not a person. Because a fetus is not a person, it can't be murdered. Hence, neither women who have abortions nor their abortion doctors can lawfully be jailed for murdering an aborted fetus. Perhaps we may agree with the notion of fetuses thereby lacking a right to life!

 

[vulcanlogician]

Please let us agree to the notion of "right to life" as pertaining strictly to persons or conscious beings. A person may be universally defined as being somebody who has experienced consciousness. Only people can be murdered. A fetus is not a conscious being, and therefore it is not a person. Because a fetus is not a person, it can't be murdered. Hence, neither women who have abortions nor their abortion doctors can lawfully be jailed for murdering an aborted fetus. Perhaps we may agree with the notion of fetuses thereby lacking a right to life!

Interesting place to put the marker for personhood.

So would you be in favor of testing when a fetus, say, responds to stimuli as some kind of marker for conscious experience? Babies obviously have a capacity for consciousness before exiting the womb. But (obviously) a newly fertilized zygote has no conscious awareness, and won't for quite some time. I'm not exactly sure when a fetus gains consciousness, but I'm a little uneasy in using consciousness as a marker for personhood to begin with.

 

[MikeF]

Please let us agree to the notion of "right to life" as pertaining strictly to persons or conscious beings. A person may be universally defined as being somebody who has experienced consciousness. Only people can be murdered. A fetus is not a conscious being, and therefore it is not a person. Because a fetus is not a person, it can't be murdered. Hence, neither women who have abortions nor their abortion doctors can lawfully be jailed for murdering an aborted fetus. Perhaps we may agree with the notion of fetuses thereby lacking a right to life!

Unfortunately, we are talking about a biological transformation that occurs slowly over time. The properties exhibited by a fertilized egg are different from that of a newborn infant. As the fetus grows, properties of the resulting infant are acquired incrementally, they are not simply absent at one instant and then fully present the next. Certainly there are stages of development where many can agree that consciousness has not yet formed or is present. However, at some point degrees or levels of consciousness will begin to present themselves and it then becomes a judgement call as to where one wants to draw the line. There will be no right answer.

 

[Fool]

Interesting place to put the marker for personhood.

So would you be in favor of testing when a fetus, say, responds to stimuli as some kind of marker for conscious experience? Babies obviously have a capacity for consciousness before exiting the womb. But (obviously) a newly fertilized zygote has no conscious awareness, and won't for quite some time. I'm not exactly sure when a fetus gains consciousness, but I'm a little uneasy in using consciousness as a marker for personhood to begin with.

the marker shouldn't be consciousness. people have consciousness just before their death. families remove life support systems for people all the time. people who are conscious request assisted suicide, euthanasia.

the test should be viability. if it's viable then it has autonomy. if it isn't, it can't live on it's own. the spirit, consciousness can't maintain, control a form that hasn't met the conditions for an earthly experience; whether the form has been damaged or not developed in fullness.

 

[Suave]

Unfortunately, we are talking about a biological transformation that occurs slowly over time. The properties exhibited by a fertilized egg are different from that of a newborn infant. As the fetus grows, properties of the resulting infant are acquired incrementally, they are not simply absent at one instant and then fully present the next. Certainly there are stages of development where many can agree that consciousness has not yet formed or is present. However, at some point degrees or levels of consciousness will begin to present themselves and it then becomes a judgement call as to where one wants to draw the line. There will be no right answer.

Perhaps we could agree with defining a conscious being as somebody who has experienced self awareness.

 

[MikeF]

Perhaps we could agree with defining a conscious being as somebody who has experienced self awareness.

It will all come down to how one defines self-awareness and consciousness and how one measures that, or whether it can be measured. Some will argue that other organisms other than human beings have self-awareness. Are there different levels or types of awareness? Is there a biological mechanism that induces and maintains un-awareness in a fetus while in the womb that only relinquishes during the birthing process, effectively restricting self-awareness to a post-partum infant?

I do not think we have sufficient understand with which to make a clear and unequivocal decision. It will be a subjective choice involving compromise between competing interests.

 

[sun rise]

at what point does the atman enter the dwelling?

I don't know.

can two atman's occupy the same body without it being considered possession?

I don't think so.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Is there such a thing as a right to life? What does that mean?

Death comes for us all, whether religious or not. Some people may believe that "they" will live on in some form or another; others may believe that death is the extinguishment of everything.

Legislatures and courts may define it in some particular way.

What does a right to life mean to you? And why should anyone believe it?

I think in a civilized society there ought to be the right to life but only within reason. I feel serial killers and psychopaths who kill forfeit that right.

 

[Brian2]

exercorcisms are performed all the time for two spirits occupying the same body and in different cultures.

The spirits that are kicked out are demons who are troubling a person and who are unwelcome. The person is both spirit and body.
Who is being killed in that process?