tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1442827238174603755.post4512681297324092570..comments2023-09-11T08:30:08.843-07:00Comments on Life Training Institute Blog: "Going Ape" [Megan]SKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01905606527143286458noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1442827238174603755.post-62641306140927435482015-04-22T05:49:50.427-07:002015-04-22T05:49:50.427-07:00"Who decides what level of complexity is suff..."Who decides what level of complexity is sufficient?"<br /><br />We draw arbitrary lines like this all the time in law. Consider that we declare a person an adult (with all adult privileges) when they turn 18.<br /><br />"Why should cognitive and emotional complexity ground valuable personhood and not some other function/trait/ability?"<br /><br />Well everybody has to give it some trait. It in the case of many pro-lifers, it's DNA (or is it -- do the sperm and egg merely just have to make contact with each other to be considered a human---what exactly happens during the 12-hour process of conception to make the magic happen?) I suppose the reason people use cognitive complexity as a value is because there is a large range of conscious experiences a human can have (that say, a rock can't have.) It we ever discovered that trees had the ability to be conscious, feel pain, love, we'd be forced to consider the ethicality of cutting trees down. Also remember that when the brain completely ceases to function, it is legal to put a person in a box and bury them. So to answer your question, those rights are eventually lost. Finally, if level of cognitive complexity is of no value, let us remember that there is no reason for calling a late-term abortion more serious than an early-term abortion. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com