Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

In reply to radgeekdotcom. The claim that an embryo is just a potential living thing of its species implies that it’s actually something else. But what could that be? It certainly isn’t a living thing of another species; are you perhaps sug…

In reply to radgeekdotcom. Michael Brazier: Besides, [1] it wouldn’t exactly help your overall position if a fetus were just part of its mother, because [2] gratuitous self-mutilation is also [3] morally wrong. In reverse order: [3] Maybe so; I think t…

In reply to Michael Brazier. Michael Brazier: And a fertilized egg begins with an embryo at the stage of an undifferentiated clump of cells. Such an egg contains an individual bird, of its parents’ species but numerically distinct from them. I agree wi…

In reply to Michael Brazier. Michael Brazier: It would be quite impossible for anyone to claim that a bird’s eggs are part of the bird, as they’re not even physically connected. I agree that a bird’s fertilized egg, once laid, cannot plausibly be…

Explore the key highlights from the UN’s latest release of its world population estimates.

Explore data on population, fertility rates, life expectancy, deaths and other demographic data across the world.

In reply to Irfan Khawaja. My argument is effective against radgeek’s position, at least, since he admits the moral standing of a fetus but claimed pregnancy is involuntary servitude anyway. That makes it worth saying, even if you can escape it b…

In reply to Irfan Khawaja. First off, social trust is not a general sense of social responsibility, so a rise in careless or selfish behaviors is irrelevant to the question – that eliminates half your suggested measures for it. As for trust in au…