This is actually in response to the podcast with Stephanie Slade, which I am just getting caught up on. I found it interesting that she described pro-life libertarianism as being based on libertarian beliefs about the limited role of the state: to protect an individual's life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. She used the "i" word …
This is actually in response to the podcast with Stephanie Slade, which I am just getting caught up on. I found it interesting that she described pro-life libertarianism as being based on libertarian beliefs about the limited role of the state: to protect an individual's life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. She used the "i" word several times, which struck me. It seems to me that the paradox of the fetus is that it is an entity that has human life but is not an individual. And whether you decide to condition personhood, which legally confers some constellation of rights and obligations (e.g., not to have your health endangered or life extinguished; not to threaten the health or life of your host), on the basis of being alive vs. being an individual doesn't seem to me as cut and dried as she presented it, even within the context of her own libertarian beliefs.
This is actually in response to the podcast with Stephanie Slade, which I am just getting caught up on. I found it interesting that she described pro-life libertarianism as being based on libertarian beliefs about the limited role of the state: to protect an individual's life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. She used the "i" word several times, which struck me. It seems to me that the paradox of the fetus is that it is an entity that has human life but is not an individual. And whether you decide to condition personhood, which legally confers some constellation of rights and obligations (e.g., not to have your health endangered or life extinguished; not to threaten the health or life of your host), on the basis of being alive vs. being an individual doesn't seem to me as cut and dried as she presented it, even within the context of her own libertarian beliefs.