Research Paper on "Abortion and Universalism"

Research Paper 7 pages (2416 words) Sources: 7

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It does not admit of a "fallen" human nature (as identified by the medievalists in their Christian doctrine). On the contrary, Rousseau's natural man is shackled by any notion of sin. In order to free himself, he must fight this notion, embodied by religion -- specifically Christianity (which claims to know certain truths regarding God). To Rousseau, Christianity is fundamentally flawed because it looks to an afterlife rather than looking primarily at the here and now (as though there were nothing to follow). According to Rousseau, a Christian is one who lives for God (for a life after death); a Spartan or a Roman (examples Rousseau uses) live for Sparta and Rome, respectively. As Liberty began to be enshrined (or, as the State began to separate itself from the Church), Rousseau asserted, "Whoever dares to say, 'Outside the church there is no salvation,' ought to be expelled from the state, unless the state is the church and the prince the pontiff."[footnoteRef:8] Here, one can see clearly the violent struggle at the heart of the problem of liberty. For the Christian West, liberty from sin (through Christ) was the ultimate good. For the Modern West, liberty from Christian doctrine was the ultimate good -- for, as Rousseau states, "Christianity preaches only servitude and dependence," and neither is good for one dedicated to a naturalistic liberty.[footnoteRef:9] [7: Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Basic Political Writings (IN: Hacket Publishing), 156.] [8: Ibid, 251.] [9: Ibid, 250.]

That so much of the debate surrounding abortion is shrouded in this notion of "liberty" can make the issue even cloudier -- because there are two types of "liberty" if one looks at the idea historically: there is Christian "lib

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erty" which is rooted in the idea of the "rights of God," of Christ as Truth freeing mankind from sin -- and there is Modern "liberty" which is rooted in the idea of the "rights of man," of man being free to define for himself what is good and true, rejecting or accepting the concept of "sin" as he/she sees fit.

Plato contends that humans know by means of the intellect, as he shows in both Meno and Phaedo, stating that "all inquiry and all learning is but recollection."[footnoteRef:10] Implicit in the assertion is that we know by intuition. Plato calls it the act of recollecting knowledge that was imprinted on the soul. In Phaedo, Socrates asserts that truth is something written on the mind or the soul of man. To put it modern terms, Andrew Napolitano calls truth "identity between intellect and reality."[footnoteRef:11] When what is in the mind matches what is outside the mind, i.e., in reality, this is "truth," at least according to Napolitano. As P.J. Toner states, without objectivity, "the whole process of human reasoning [may be] declared fallacious."[footnoteRef:12] One might argue that there is not truth and that is the truth, but saying so is making an objective assertion and therefore contradicting the very idea that you are meaning to express. [10: Plato, Dialogues, 81.] [11: Andrew Napolitano, Lies the Government Told You (TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010), xiii.] [12 P.J. Toner, "The Existence of God." The Catholic Encyclopedia (NY: Robert Appleton, 1909), 126.]

For Descartes, the question of how to act ultimately comes down to the question of whether there exists a God, Who sets the rules of how one should act. He answers this argument by reminding the reader of the proof of God's existence, which is found in the very fact that he can even imagine God. This argument is also made by Anselm in his ontological argument for the existence of God: God is that than which nothing greater can be imagined.

The point of proving God's existence, however, is that in doing so one can point to an external reality, an objective unchanging truth in which all truths exist -- moral truth, mathematical truth, theological truth, and natural truth or law.

Understanding natural law and its implications on abortion could be an alternative means of settling the abortion dilemma. What is natural and what is a perversion of nature? Aquinas would have send that natural law is that which fits the thing to its end. A pencil is used for writing. If it is used thus it is natural. If it is used to pick one's ear, it is a perversion of the thing's purpose. If this approach is applied to a woman who is with child, a similar line of reasoning may be conducted. However, because of the subjective, willful nature of modern times, it is difficult to argue that objective reality or natural law even exists or has a universal meaning that applies to everyone. As Weaver noted, William of Occam attacked the notion of universalism and the Enlightenment philosophers killed it and buried it. If universalism and objectivity are dead, what can one say about anything? Abortion becomes as much a dilemma as adultery or as dropping bombs on civilians in third world countries or as financial destroying an entire global society. One can only answer it by first settling the matter of universalism.

Bibliography

Lefebvre, Marcel. Religious Liberty Questioned. KC: Angelus Press, 1985.

Mill, J.S. On Liberty. London: John W. Parker and Son, West Strand, 1859.

Napolitano, Anderew. Lies the Government Told You. TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010.

Plato. Dialogues. [trans. B. Jowett]. UK: William Benton, 1952.

Rousseau, J.J. The Basic Political Writings. IN: Hackett Publishing, 2011.

Toner, P.J. The Existence of God. The Catholic Encyclopedia. NY: Robert

Appleton, 1909.

Weaver, Richard. Ideas… READ MORE

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