Other organisms, therefore, aside from humans are morally important in their own right. Sentiocentrism believes that sentience is the necessary and sufficient condition in order to belong to the moral community. Sentiocentrism is a term contained in the Encyclopedia of Animal Rights and Animal Welfare, edited by Marc Bekoff and Carron A. Other prominent philosophers discussing or defending sentiocentrism include Peter Singer, Tom Regan, and Mary Anne Warren. ![]() : 81–82 Moore used the term "zoocentricism" to describe the belief that universal consideration and care should be given to all sentient beings he believed that this was too difficult for humans to comprehend in their current stage of development. As a result, he argued that sentience and ethics are inseparable and therefore every sentient piece of the universe has an intrinsic ethical relationship to every other sentient part, but not the insentient parts. Moore believed that only sentient beings can make such moral judgements because they are the only parts of the universe which can experience pleasure and suffering. He argued that what aids them in their struggle can be called good and what opposes them can be called bad. Howard Moore, in Better World Philosophy (1899), described every sentient being as existing in a constant state of struggle. The late 19th- and early 20th-century American philosopher J. Jeremy Bentham, Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation, (1823), 2nd edition, Chapter 17, footnote But suppose the case were otherwise, what would it avail? The question is not Can they reason? nor, Can they talk? but, Can they suffer? What else is it that should trace the insuperable line? Is it the faculty of reason, or, perhaps, the faculty of discourse? But a full-grown horse or dog is beyond comparison a more rational, as well as a more conversable animal, than an infant of a day, or a week, or even a month, old. The French have already discovered that the blackness of the skin is no reason why a human being should be abandoned without redress to the caprice of a tormentor. ![]() In his Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation, Bentham made a comparison between slavery and sadism toward humans and non-human animals: Members of species who are able to experience pleasure and pain are thus included in the category. He maintained that any individual who is capable of subjective experience should be considered a moral subject. The 18th-century utilitarian philosopher Jeremy Bentham was among the first to argue for sentiocentrism. He voted against the Abortion Act to be extended to Northern Ireland.English utilitarian philosopher Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832), early proponent of sentiocentrism He also voted against abortion up to birth on various grounds including handicap. In 1990, he opposed attempts to legalise abortion on demand with only one doctor needed to certify that the pregnancy has not exceeded 12 weeks. He supported the David Alton Abortion (Amendment) Bill which aimed to lower the upper limit for abortion. ![]() Michael Howard, Conservative leader, who also entered Parliament in 1983, has voted for tightening the law on abortion. He opposed pro-life amendments to ban abortions after 20 weeks and after 22 weeks. In 1990, he voted for a clause aimed at permitting abortion on the agreement of only one doctor if the pregnancy had not exceeded 12 weeks. In 1988, Mr Blair opposed David Alton's Abortion (Amendment) Bill which aimed to lower the upper limit for abortions from 28 weeks to 18 weeks. Tony Blair, who entered Parliament in 1983, has consistently supported the Abortion Act introduced in 1967. But the poor outcome for those suggests the limits of viability have been reached. They did not succeed until 1990, when the abortion act was reviewed as the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act was going through Parliament and the time limit was reduced to 24 weeks.Īdvances in medicine have seen babies survive at 23 weeks and, very rarely, 22 weeks. The 1967 Act came under repeated assault from anti-abortion organisations to reduce the time limit and to repeal the law in Parliament. Women and their doctors do, because neither want them. No time limit was set in Scotland, yet no more late abortions were performed north of the border than in England, a fact cited by pro-choice campaigners as evidence that the law does not prevent late abortions. The 1967 Abortion Act, introduced by the Liberal MP David Steel, set an upper time limit of 28 weeks based on the assumption in the Infant Life Preservation Act of 1929 that this was the limit of viability - the minimum age at which a foetus could survive.
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