Title
Consciousness and the Moral Permissibility of Infanticide
Date of Original Version
2008
Type
Article
Published In
Journal of Applied Philosophy, Vol. 25, No. 1, 2008
Abstract or Table of Contents
In this paper, we present a conditional argument for the moral permissibility of some kinds of infanticide. The argument is based on a certain view of consciousness and the claim that there is an intimate connection between consciousness and infanticide. In bare outline, the argument is this: it is impermissible to intentionally kill a creature only if the creature is conscious; it is reasonable to believe that there is some time at which human infants are not conscious; therefore, it is reasonable to believe that it is permissible to intentionally kill some human infants.