Topic 5 - Parenthood and reproductive rights

What is parenthood as a field of philosophical study?

A topic spanning bioethics, political philosophy, and social philosophy.

What distinction is made in defining parenthood?

Between parenthood as a property or relation and parenthood as rights and responsibilities.

What is a biological parent in the traditional sense?

The assumed default moral and legal parent.

How have reproductive technologies complicated biological parenthood?

By separating genetic contribution from gestation and childbirth.

What is geneticism?

The view that genetic parents are the only natural or biological parents.

How does geneticism view gestational relationships?

As non-biological “mere containment.”

What is the Foetal Container Model (FCM)?

The view that the mother and foetus are fundamentally separate entities in a nesting relation.

How did Aristotle describe the foetus under the Foetal Container Model?

As like a son who has set up his own house.

How long has the Foetal Container Model dominated Western thought?

Since Antiquity.

How is the foetus often portrayed in modern public discourse?

As an independent, astronaut-style entity floating in space.

What do critics argue this portrayal ignores?

The physical and metaphysical intertwinement of pregnancy.

What is moral parenthood?

The set of specific duties and privileges involved in raising a child.

What are parental obligations?

Duties to love, nurture, and guide a child beyond standard professional duties.

How do parental obligations differ from a teacher’s duties?

They are deeper and not limited to a professional role.

What are causal accounts of parental obligation?

Views that obligations arise because the parent caused the child to exist.

What is a major problem for causal accounts?

They imply too many parents, such as sperm or egg donors.

What are voluntarist accounts of parental obligation?

Views that obligations arise from voluntary actions or role acceptance.

What kind of cases challenge voluntarist accounts?

Accidental conception.

What is Weinberg’s Hazmat Theory?

The view that gamete owners are responsible like owners of hazardous materials.

Why does Weinberg compare gametes to hazardous materials?

Because possessing them carries responsibility for their use regardless of intent.

What does the Hazmat Theory deny about parental responsibility?

That it depends on an intention to raise the child.

What are parental rights?

Moral or legal permissions related to raising and making decisions for a child.

What is the proprietary account of parental rights?

The view that rights come from ownership of biological materials.

What is the labour-based (Lockean) account of parental rights?

The view that rights are earned through physical and emotional labour.

What is the obligation-based or child-centred account of parental rights?

The view that parental rights exist only to serve the child’s best interests.

What is the relationship-based account of parental rights?

The view that rights are grounded in the value of an existing parent–child relationship.

Why is reproduction considered morally significant in bioethics?

Because it creates vulnerable beings with unmet moral needs.

Why can reproductive obligations not simply be discharged by giving a child to strangers?

Because creation itself generates special moral responsibilities.

What is a wrongful life suit?

A legal case where a child claims harm from being brought into existence.

Who typically brings wrongful life claims?

Children born with serious congenital disabilities.

What is the Non-Identity Problem?

The problem of whether an act can be wrong if it harms no specific person.

Who introduced the Non-Identity Problem?

Derek Parfit.

What is the person-based intuition?

The idea that an act is wrong only if it is bad for someone.

What is Parfit’s depletion case?

A scenario where resource depletion harms future people who would not otherwise exist.

Why does the depletion case create a moral dilemma?

Because the harmed individuals would not exist under the better alternative.

What is the central puzzle of the Non-Identity Problem?

That bringing someone into a worse life may not count as harming them.

Why is this troubling if the life is still worth living?

Because it suggests no moral wrong occurred.

What does it mean to be morally responsible?

To be apt for moral praise or criticism.

What capacity must an agent have to be morally responsible?

The power to act in the relevant way.

Why is freedom or autonomy required for responsibility?

Because coerced actions are not fully blameworthy.

Why must a responsible agent understand moral reasons?

To act knowingly in light of right and wrong.

Why must an agent be in a position to know moral facts?

Because ignorance can undermine responsibility.

Why is sperm or egg donation a key problem case?

It raises the question of whether genetic contribution creates lasting obligations.

Why is surrogacy philosophically challenging?

It separates genetic, gestational, and intended parenthood.

Which cases highlight conflicts in surrogacy?

Baby M, Baby Gammy, and In Re: Marriage of Buzzanca.

What is the “thwarted father” problem?

Cases where a biological father’s wish to parent is blocked.

Why do philosophers compare abortion and infanticide?

To examine where moral duties to potential or ongoing lives begin.

Which philosopher is associated with questioning the abortion–infanticide line?

Jonathan Glover.

What is meant by a “worthwhile life” in these debates?

A life judged to be good enough to justify bringing into existence.