Article Review Teo Kay Key

Article: Fetal Humanity and Brain Function By Baruch Brody

The author touched on the subject of when a human becomes officially dead. To put it in another way, it would be when a person officially becomes a human being, as the death of a person means he or she is no longer a human being. Therefore, he is trying to argue about when a fetus officially becomes a human being. He is in actual fact trying to put across his point on which stage of the fetal development should abortion of the fetus be allowed up to. In his argument, he touched upon two theories, the brain-death theory and Ramseys theory of death. The brain-death theory stated that with no irreparable cessation of brain function, the person continues to exist. This means that a functioning brain is essential to the persons existence, and the person remains alive while the brain is still functioning. To put it into the context of the fetus, this means that the fetus, according to the theory, becomes human when the brain is developed and has the basic functions in place. By the end of six weeks, all of the internal organs are present. The author also takes into account the argument that the fetus only becomes human when it achieves spontaneous movement. This develops around the third month, and so the author concludes that from the brain-death theory, the fetus becomes human between the sixth and twelfth week after conception The author also examined another theory, Ramseys theory of death, which states that the human being does not die, does not go out of existence, until such time as the brain, heart and lungs have irreparably ceased functioning naturally. With this theory, the development of the heart must also be considered. By the second week, there are already primitive contradictions of the fetal heart, and when the seventh week is reached, the heart is functionally complete. The author then concludes from this theory that the fetus becomes human between the second and seventh week of conception. By combining the two theories together, the final conclusion that the author arrived at was

that the fetus becomes human with a right to life some time between the second and twelfth week of conception. The authors argument in VSAF form would be as follows: P1: All entities with properly functioning brains are human beings. P2: All fetuses are entities that develop brains that function properly between the sixth and twelfth week. C1> All fetuses are entities that become human beings between the sixth and twelfth week. (P1, P2) P3: All entities with properly functioning hearts are human beings. P4: All fetuses are entities that develop hearts that function properly between the second and seventh week. C2> All fetuses are entities that become human beings between the second and seventh week. (P3, P4) C3> All fetuses are entities that become human beings between the second and twelfth week. (C1, C2) The author took into account two different theories before he arrived at his conclusion. He considered both the development of the heart and the brain, and felt that both of them are essential to becoming human. However, I do not really agree with his argument. I feel that only when the development of the brain is complete, then the fetus should be considered a human being. As such, some modifications should be made to his argument. The author views the properly functioning heart as essential to the fetus becoming human. However, with the beginnings of a heart already found in the second week after conception, it is too early for the fetus to be completely developed in terms of its external and internal features. All of the internal organs and most of the external structures would only come into place during the sixth week. This means that while it is on its way to becoming a human being, it has not reached the stage at which it can officially be said to be a human being. At that point in time, the fetus still has many features that are yet to be developed, and so should not be considered a human being yet. Therefore, it is still too early to say that the fetus has become a human being.

In addition, when the fetus reaches its second week, it has not yet developed a functioning brain. The brain is the most important feature of a human, and it is the most essential part of what makes us truly human. The brain is also the one part that controls all our movements and thoughts, and differentiates us from other animals that exist on this earth. At the end of the second week, the brain is not developed enough for the fetus to have any significant development in terms of skill. While there may be the beginnings of a brain already starting to form, it cannot perform any of the basic functions yet. This means that the fetus is still relatively undeveloped, and is technically just a cluster of cells. It is only when the brain is fully functional during the twelfth week that the fetus can be considered human. The heart of a human being is an important organ. It provides us with the necessary nutrients and oxygen that we require by pumping them all throughout the body through the bloodstream. While I do not disagree with its importance to human life, I do not feel that it should be the essential part of a human. Cases of heart transplants are no longer rare nowadays, and as long as a functioning heart resides within us, we are alive. However, the heart is not the organ that ensures we remain human beings. It keeps us alive, but all our actions are not governed by it. The brain is the one that provides us with conscious thought, language and cognitive skills, and the ability for spontaneous movement. It is therefore the one organ that is essential for making us who we are. It differentiates us and is considered to be the central control for the entire body. Therefore, without a properly functioning brain, we are not considered to be human beings. The same applies to fetuses. The fetal brain, when fully developed, might still not be capable of language or other similar skills yet, but it performs the basic functions that define us to be humans. Very often, pregnant mothers would find that their unborn children would kick against the womb or have some other forms of movement. It is this ability to achieve spontaneous movement that tells the mothers that the baby is alive and is a fully formed, albeit miniature, human being. When the brain is developed to the stage such that it can achieve spontaneous movement in the fetus, the fetus should be considered to be a human being. The author of the article also mentioned that a spontaneously moving fetus would seem to be human. The spontaneous movement of the fetus signifies that it has

developed the skills necessary for humans, and this skill is developed as a result of the brain. The development of the brain has to go through many stages, but only when it reaches the third month, or the twelfth week, can the fetus achieve spontaneous movement. This shows that the brain has developed to a point when the fetuss brain is fully developed. Previously, before the fetus is able to move spontaneously, the external features and internal organs are mostly fully formed and complete. The fact that the brain continues to develop even after the other organs have stopped shows that the brain is so much more complex than the rest. It also implies that the amount of functions the brain has vastly exceeds those of the other organs. The fetus is technically alive after its heart, lungs and other organs are formed, but it is not considered human, as the brain has not been fully developed. The spontaneous movement is achieved only when the brain is developed enough and to the point when the fetus is able to move consciously. This is an important milestone in the development of the fetus as it means that the fetal brain has already started to achieve natural impulses. The fetuss unconscious mind has already started to function. While there might not be the ability to form conscious thought yet, the fetal mind is already exhibiting one of the main traits of a human being: thought. Therefore, I conclude from the above points that for a fetus to be considered human, the development of the brain is the most essential part. Only when the fetus starts to display traits of a human being, the first of which to appear would be spontaneous movement, can it be considered a human being. As a result, I feel that a fetus should be considered human only after the twelfth week, and there should not be any abortion done after this period of time.