Politically Correct Death: Answering the Arguments for Abortion Rights

by Francis J. Beckwith

Thorough explanation of sixty-nine ethical and philosophical arguments sometimes given to defend a proDchoice position and persuasive proDlife responses to each.

Genres: Philosophy, Christian

256 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1993

About the author

Francis J. Beckwith is Professor of Philosophy & Church-State Studies at Baylor University, where he also serves as Associate Director of the Graduate Program in Philosophy and Co-Director of the Program on Philosophical Studies of Religion in Baylor’s Institute for Studies of Religion (ISR). With his appointment in the Department of Philosophy, he also teaches courses in the Departments of Political Science and Religion as well as the J. M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies, where he served as its Associate Director from July 2003 until January 2007.

Born in 1960 in New York City, Professor Beckwith grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada, the eldest of the four children of Harold (“Pat”) and Elizabeth Beckwith. He graduated in 1974 from St. Viator’s Elementary School and in 1978 from Bishop Gorman High School, where he was a three-sport letterman and a member of the 1978 Nevada State AAA Basketball Championship Team.

In 2008-09 he served on the faculty of the University of Notre Dame as the Mary Ann Remick Senior Visiting Fellow in Notre Dame’s Center for Ethics & Culture. A 2002-03 Research Fellow in the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions in the Department of Politics at Princeton University, Professor Beckwith currently serves as a member of Princeton’s James Madison Society. He has also held full-time faculty appointments at Trinity International University (1997-2002), Whittier College (1996-97), and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (1989-96).

A graduate of Fordham University (Ph.D. and M.A. in philosophy), he also holds the Master of Juridical Studies (M.J.S.) degree from the Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, where he won a CALI Award for Academic Excellence in Reproductive Control Seminar.

He has served on the executive committees of both the Society of Christian Philosophers (1999-2002) and the Evangelical Philosophical Society (1998-2003) as well as on the national board of the University Faculty for Life (1999-present). The 57th President of the Evangelical Theological Society (November 2006-May 2007) , Professor Beckwith served from 2005 through 2008 as a member of the American Philosophical Association’s Committee on Philosophy and Law. In January 2008 he was selected as the 2007 Person of the Year by Inside the Vatican Magazine.

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

At its time, probably the most cogent, thorough, and forceful defense of the pro-life position. It has been surpassed by Beckwith's newest contribution: Defending Life (Cambridge). So, at this stage of the game it would probably be most prudent to purchase his latest polemic. Almost all the arguments in this book are found in Defending Life, and they are framed in their more advanced forms in that book. Nevertheless, this book was foundational for my development as a defender of the unborn. Either of his books will allow you to be able to handle almost any argument a pro-abortion advocate throws your way. Not only do we have the moral high ground, but Beckwith shows that we have the scientific, philosophical, and theological high ground as well.

[Jeremiah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the older version of the newer book that is now called Defending Life (Cambridge University Press). I haven't come across any other book that traverses so much ground with the experience and depth of understanding that Beckwith brings to this task. The book is a great reflection of Beckwith's personality: humorous, witty, clearly reasoned,& comprehensive. If I could choose one book for anyone on either side of this issue to read as a primer for the pro-life position it would be this. Buy it!

[Randy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is immensely helpful in clarifying the pro-life position that the unborn are fully human at birth, and that though the abortion debate may be complex psychologically and emotionally, it is very simply morally, as the whole debate comes down to the question, what is the unborn? The author decisively answers pro-abortion arguments, both popular and academic. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the debate.

[Hispanicpundit · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read book for anyone interested in the abortion debate. You have not considered the full strength of the pro-life argument until you have read this book.

[Linden]

Politically Correct Death: Answering the Arguments for Abortion Rights by Francis J. Beckwith (1994)

[Jeffrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very thorough and strong case for the pro-life position. Very persuasive.