Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.
The line between lawful and unlawful abortion will be marked by the fact of having sensation and being alive.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that the ethical distinction regarding abortion hinges on the capacity for sensation and the state of being alive.
Aristotle's quote highlights the moral and philosophical considerations surrounding abortion. It implies that the defining factor in the legality and morality of abortion is whether the fetus can feel pain and possesses a life state, thereby raising questions about personhood and the ethical implications of terminating a pregnancy. This perspective invites a deeper exploration of what it means to be alive and sentient, emphasizing the significance of these attributes in ethical decision-making.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
Discussing the ethical implications of abortion in a debate.
More from Aristotle
All quotes βThose who cannot bravely face danger are the slaves of their attackers.
For often, when one is asleep, there is something in consciousness which declares that what then presents itself is but a dream.
You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor.
But if nothing but soul, or in soul mind, is qualified to count, it is impossible for there to be time unless there is soul, but only that of which time is an attribute, i.e. if change can exist without soul.
The whole is more than the sum of its parts.
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Men are disturbed not by the things that happen, but by their opinion of the things that happen.