Year: 2003
Type: article
Abstract: When does a human being begin to exist? We argue that it is possible, through a combination of biological fact and philosophical analysis, to provide a definitive answer to this question. We lay down a set of conditions for being a human being, and we determine when, in the course of normal fetal development, these conditions are first satisfied. Issues dealt with along the way include: modes of substance-formation, twinning, the nature of the intra-uterine environment, and the nature of the relation between fetus and mother (connection, parthood, dependence).
Authors: Barry Smith, Berit Brogaard
Institutions: Leipzig University, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung
OpenAlex ID: W4239250371