Abortion Rights: For and Against

by Kate Greasley, Christopher Kaczor

This book features opening arguments followed by two rounds of reply between two moral philosophers on opposing sides of the abortion debate. In the opening essays, Kate Greasley and Christopher Kaczor lay out what they take to be the best case for and against abortion rights. In the ensuing dialogue, they engage with each other's arguments and each responds to criticisms fielded by the other. Their conversational argument explores such fundamental questions as: what gives a person the right to life? Is abortion bad for women? What is the difference between abortion and infanticide? Underpinned by philosophical reasoning and methodology, this book provides opposing and clearly structured perspectives on a highly emotive and controversial issue. The result gives readers a window into how moral philosophers argue about the contentious issue of abortion rights, and an in-depth analysis of the compelling arguments on both sides.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Medicine

266 pages, Paperback

Published November 23, 2017

Reviews

[B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly excellent debate! Bravo to both authors.

I can now argue this issue in a way that would satisfy strong adherents on both sides, which was my goal going in.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was looking forward to reading this, unfortunately it was a bit of a let down. Both authors misunderstood each others arguments frequently which wasn't helped by a lack of space to develop their arguments and some conceptual ambiguity by both authors. This was especially the case in the response sections of the book.

I've read work from both authors previously and had been impressed by their clarity and reasoning. However, this book did not do either thinker justice.

There is still some merit to reading the book if you want to be informed on abortion but I'd recommend reading their previous work first.

Nevertheless, I think their overall goal is commendable and would still be interested in reading these types of books.

[Jeremiah Whiteman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its an excellent introduction into the debates on abortion from both the pro-choice and the pro-life side. It can be a long read, but I would encourage you to fight through the “boring” parts and really try to think about their arguments. While I am staunchly pro-life, there were still some aspects of Kaczor that I disagreed with, and while it seems that Greasley misrepresented quite a bit (she’s young and not as experienced as Kaczor and I’m sure I’ve misrepresented lots of people as well), she does a good job of laying out the pro-choice arguments and none of them are the ones that you read of on Facebook (such as it being a clump of cells and nothing more). They both were respectful to one another and engaged quite rigorously with each other effectively.

[Alfred · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book which gives deep insight into the pro choice and pro life side of the ethical issue.

The book presents strong cases both for the pro-choice and the pro-life position. I also like the structure of the book where they respond to eachother. The main reason is that it gives more insight into the arguments strength when another person from the opposing side can comment and critique it. Overall a great debate book, I highly recommend it.

[M. Marak · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good "for and against."

This was a good treatment of the abortion issue from both sides of the debate. Reading Greasley was refreshing. You won't hear the sort of arguments that she makes when you're talking to most pro-abortion advocates/activists. I was genuinely surprised that she was able to make the Embryo Rescue Case sound less easy to refute. But towards the end, I think she did make some pretty bad arguments. I think her "A Short Reply to the Reply" was bordering on the low tier side. As for Prof. Kaczor, I think he too could have done better in some places and it did seem like he wasn't addressing some of Greasley's points at first. There were times when I felt like a face-to-face dialogue would have been better, cus it seemed like they were talking past one another on a number of things. But in my opinion, Kaczor's last reply brought it all into focus and I think he successfully rebutted most of what Greasley had said.

All things considered, this is a valuable book on the ethical dilemma of abortion. If you have some basic idea about the abortion debate, I'd definitely recommend this to get a deeper understanding.

[Tony Cohen · Rating 4 out of 5]

More people should read this book.

[Joel Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Both authors write incredibly clearly and I might even say that, although this is perhaps THE authoritative collection of arguments for and against abortion out right now, it is accessible to the general public who has not ready any philosophy. I agreed with most of Greasley's arguments but Kaczor's part was also quite good.