Abortion

Since our heated debate about abortion last week, I thought I'd show you guys how professional philosophers debate ethical and philosophical issues. In the audio below, Don Marquis presents his objections against Peter Singer's views on abortion and infanticide (the latter favors these two under certain conditions), and argues that abortion is morally wrong.

Notice, first of all, that both philosophers explain what positions they have in common, and how they acknowledge the correct points their opponents make. This is critical: you have to assume some sort of common ground if you are to convince someone your point is correct, and you have to understand exactly what it is that you are arguing against.

Notice also how once they have correctly stated their opponent's arguments, they either find fault with that logic (which doesn't happen very often, since these guys are pretty smart), or they show how those arguments actually entail some logical consequences that presumably no one (including its proponent) would accept as true.

You can decide for yourself who makes the best arguments...
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