I agree that it’s not well embedded into the book. However, I’m not sure it has to be.
In most of Western Europe, abortion is not a significant political issue. For example, polling consistently finds around 86% of people in the UK think that “Women should have the right to an abortion” and only around 5% of people think that they shouldn’t. Given that the readers of WWOTF likely hold even more progressive views, it may be sufficient to make a brief mention of the topic and move on.
It is possible to interpret the book’s emphasis on the value of future people as implying that abortion is morally wrong. But, this line of reasoning could also be applied to other issues, such as assisted suicide, which is not mentioned in the book. Should we then criticise MacAskill for potentially emboldening people who oppose assisted suicide (in such situations)? Even though the right to assisted suicide is lacking in much of Europe, it seems fine to set it aside as it’s not central to the book. Similarly, it seems fine not to spend too much time on the topic of abortion rights.
It’s possible that the book has a political blindspot and fails to anticipate how the book would be read by some people (although I haven’t seen any evidence outside of Philosophy Tube). I encourage pointing this out, but I dislike being borderline hostile towards someone over it.
I agree that it’s not well embedded into the book. However, I’m not sure it has to be.
In most of Western Europe, abortion is not a significant political issue. For example, polling consistently finds around 86% of people in the UK think that “Women should have the right to an abortion” and only around 5% of people think that they shouldn’t. Given that the readers of WWOTF likely hold even more progressive views, it may be sufficient to make a brief mention of the topic and move on.
It is possible to interpret the book’s emphasis on the value of future people as implying that abortion is morally wrong. But, this line of reasoning could also be applied to other issues, such as assisted suicide, which is not mentioned in the book. Should we then criticise MacAskill for potentially emboldening people who oppose assisted suicide (in such situations)? Even though the right to assisted suicide is lacking in much of Europe, it seems fine to set it aside as it’s not central to the book. Similarly, it seems fine not to spend too much time on the topic of abortion rights.
It’s possible that the book has a political blindspot and fails to anticipate how the book would be read by some people (although I haven’t seen any evidence outside of Philosophy Tube). I encourage pointing this out, but I dislike being borderline hostile towards someone over it.