Abstract
One of the central questions in the metaphysics of pregnancy is this: Is the foetus a part of the mother? In this paper I aim not to answer this question, but rather to raise methodological concerns regarding how to approach answering it. I will outline how various areas attempt to answer whether the foetus is a part of the mother so as to demonstrate the methodological problems that each faces. My positive suggestion will be to adopt a method of reflective equilibrium. The aim of this is to ensure that pregnancy be included in the tribunal of experience that our theories are held up against such that our theories can accommodate what we say about pregnancy, whilst also ensuring that what we say about pregnancy be theoretically informed. That way, we rethink pregnancy in light of our theories as well as rethinking our theories in light of pregnancy.
Highlights
Introduction: the questionThere has been some debate over whether the foetus is a part of the pregnant mother.[1]
With regard to pregnancy, say that we hold the following as evidence for whether the foetus is a part of the gestator or not: the way we speak of gestators; how gestators feel, see, and think of themselves; how gestators are treated in law, society, and in medical practice, for example
There is much debate around these issues, which I cannot do justice to here. Human organisms such as the foetus and gestator? If we find that our best metaphysical theories or principles, like maximality, entail that the Parthood view of pregnancy is wrong, should we give up on that view in favour of another, like the Containment view? Or, as Kingma goes on to suggest,[20] should we give up on a metaphysical theory or principle, like maximality, if it cannot accommodate for our best account of pregnancy, where that best account may involve a parthood relation between entities of the same kind, F? In other words, what justifies maximality, and could pregnancy be used as a counterexample to it?
Summary
There has been some debate over whether the foetus is a part of the pregnant mother.[1]. This article belongs to the Topical Collection: EPSA2019: Selected papers from the biennial conference in Geneva Guest Editors: Anouk Barberousse, Richard Dawid, Marcel Weber
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