RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Of souls, selves, and cerebrums: a reply to Himma
JF Journal of Medical Ethics
JO J Med Ethics
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and Institute of Medical Ethics
SP 56
OP 60
DO 10.1136/jme.2004.006650
VO 31
IS 1
A1 F J Beckwith
YR 2005
UL http://jme.bmj.com/content/31/1/56.abstract
AB Ken Himma argues that a human being becomes a moral person at the commencement of brain activity. In response to Himma, the author offers (1) brief comments on Himma’s project, (2) an alternative account of the human person that maintains that a human being is a human person by nature as long as it exists, and (3) a counterexample to Himma’s position that shows it cannot account for the wrongness of the purposeful creation of anencephalic-like children. The author concludes with replies to two challenges to his position.