Michael

Then the moral dilemma concerns whether to kill a baby or an adult. We're concerned with whether to kill a baby or a zygote. So for the sake of argume...

You said "this biology ... is present from the very beginning ... of every human being’s life." Except it's not. The genetics is present but the morph...

Well, there are GOP lawmakers who oppose morning after pills.

What do (all) innocent human beings have (that other organisms don't have?) that entails that they are persons?

Extending this, here are two trolley problems: 1. If you don't change the track then five babies die. If you do then one baby dies. What do you do? 2....

What do (all) innocent human beings have (that other organisms don't have?) that entails this conclusion?

This is false. There's more to biology than genetics – there's morphology and physiology – and more than the stuff already contained within a zygote i...

You’re equivocating. That something exists without having being caused to exist by something else does not entail that this thing necessarily exists, ...

I am explaining that "if some A is the nth term then some B must have been the 1st term" does not entail "the 1st term necessarily exists (and is omni...

You're begging the question. Here are two scenarios: 1. A 1st term is necessary. A 2nd and 3rd term follow. 2. A 1st term is contingent. A 2nd and 3rd...

None of that matters. Just assume that the premise is true. The conclusion is still (superficially) counterintuitive. The issue concerns making sense ...

Something is eternal if it exists forever. Something is omnipotent if it can do anything. The one does not entail the other. And neither entails nor i...

There are all sorts of hypothetical entities that could answer prayers; devils, angels, fairies, wizards, extremely advanced aliens, the universe bran...

A zygote is not physically similar to me.

There is no point. It’s like asking when does a species branch into two? There’s just a bunch or organic matter arranged together and behaving in cert...

And to explain what it means to be a square block you describe the relevant geometry. How do you explain what it means to be a Homo sapiens?

FYI I edited my post hours ago. Weird that you're seeing the old version. I've corrected what I was trying to say. See also this that might be even cl...

Well, I do, but those with congenital amazia don't. I assume they're still mammals.

The argument is valid but its first premise is false (or at least hasn't been proven to be true).

There isn't a problem with the logic. The problem is that the premise isn't saying what it superficially seems to be saying. "it is not the case that ...

I don't produce milk?

It's much simpler than that. ¬(P ? A) ? (P ? ¬A), so ¬G ? ¬(P ? A) means ¬G ? (P ? ¬A). The argument is actually "if God does not exist then I pray , ...

A placenta is no less alive than a zygote. "Was" and "is" do not mean the same thing. Each twin was a zygote. But your conclusion that the zygote "wil...

The human body contains 78 organs, but with only 5 considered "vital": brain, heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys. So let's take organs away, keeping the...

So your definition of an organism is something like "two or more organs keeping each other alive" (although this doesn't account for single-celled org...

And it is a living thing. If twin A is the same individual as the zygote and if twin B is the same individual as the zygote then twin A is the same in...

Why does a placenta not count as a "proper whole with proper parts"? Yes, but let's take different forms of living organism; bacteria, grass, zygote, ...

A placenta is a living thing. The zygote grew into them, but they are not the same thing, as proven by the fact that each twin is not the same thing a...

What do you think a living organism is? Yes, but importantly each twin is not the same individual as the other and so they cannot both be the same ind...

This is circular. Well, I wouldn't say that homo sapiens are single-celled animals.

What is "substantial unity"? Why does it have moral relevance such that it's wrong to kill something with "substantial unity" (or at least some things...

A human zygote can grow into multiple different living organisms; an embryo, a placenta, and even a second embryo and a second placenta in the case of...

Well, I suppose that’s what my first post above does. The (valid) formal logic is an improper translation of the English language sentence.

The argument in Banno’s post is a link to a logic tree diagram that shows you why it’s valid.

I’d say that the embryo and the placenta are each their own thing, albeit connected by the umbilical cord. I wouldn’t consider any of these three thin...

Those are independent claims, not a premise and a conclusion. I am simply explaining that "X was A, therefore A is X" is a non sequitur, offering an e...

These are two different arguments: 1. A placenta was a zygote, therefore a zygote isn't a human 2. That a human was a zygote does not entail that a zy...

Except that wasn't my reasoning. Read carefully what I wrote.

Your reasoning is "X was A, therefore A is X". I am explaining that this reasoning is flawed. That a placenta was a zygote does not entail that a zygo...

All placentas and hearts and lungs were zygotes. That does not entail that zygotes are placentas, hearts, and lungs. And so that all humans were zygot...

Nor are they zygotes.

And what does it mean to be that kind of animal?

It's just another soundbite. The slightly more in-depth account is: So it's more like "I'll make cryptocurrency safer, black men use cryptocurrency, t...

Although if you read beyond the soundbite, it's "... to Black entrepreneurs and others who have historically faced barriers..."

Sexist too. What about black women?

I think it's more addressing that these mean different things: 1. ¬(P?A) 2. P?¬A And so these mean different things: 3. (¬G?¬(P?A)?¬P)?G 4. (¬G?(P?¬A)...

Trump sways and bops to music for 39 minutes in bizarre town hall episode Weird.

What does it mean to be a member of the human species? Is the placenta a human being? It has human DNA, is a living organism, and develops from the bl...

You seem to be talking about Hempel's dilemma? If the physical is defined just as whatever is explained by our current scientific theories then physic...

And Hitler. I don't think future potential is all that relevant. What matter is what the organism is now and what the parents want. Forcing a mother t...