PHILOSOPHY
BEGINNINGS
JANUARY 2020
When does a book begin? Is it on the first page, on the cover? Is it when we start to read it, or when we buy it, or when we have the idea of buying it? Maybe, it’s when the author finishes it, or perhaps when they first have the idea of writing a book in the first place. When does a story begin?
Well, why do I care? This seems a bit silly. I read a book, I either liked or not, it doesn’t matter when I precisely define when the book started. But, like many things in philosophy, this question is a mere avatar of deeper problems. If we want to retell a historical event for instance, deciding where to begin may be a highly non-trivial matter. It can completely change the narrative we are constructing and lead the reader this or that way in interpreting the events. Relatedly, many countries have had referendums to decide when does a human life start. Whether we like it or not, these seemingly abstract discussions can have concrete consequences on or lives. Let’s indulge in this philosophical question. When does a story begin?
Well, a good way to start is to actually try to understand what is the thing that is actually beginning. What is the point. Do we want to talk about the story, or the physical book, or maybe of our experience of reading the book, or the whole circumstances behind the existence of said book. Understanding any of these remarks will directly lead to one of the options in the opening paragraph.
Let’s take a historical example, World War II. Usually we want to talk about the European conflict so we state 1939 with the German invasion of Poland. But if we want to talk about the conflict in a global sense perhaps 1931 with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria is more appropriate. Or maybe what we really want to talk about is the Nazi regime, then 1919 with the creation of the party, or 1933 with Hitler’s nomination to the office of chancellor sound like good options. Once more, defining what it is we are talking about clearly outlines where we should begin our tale. And also note, that starting from different points will completely shift the narrative, saying WWII starts in 1939 completely neglects a considerable portion of the conflict in China.
But there is a problem with this method. We may not know what exactly do we want to talk about. Perhaps we are trying to decide where the thing begins in order to figure out what is the essence of said thing. What do we do then? Well in that case we could try something slightly more indirect, we could try to understand when did it end. It may be just as hard to answer this second question, but sometimes it isn’t. Sometimes one looks back and says “clearly this is where this ended” and then we can try to figure out why is that true. This will then lead us to the one factor that was the essence and that, once gone, made the thing end. And then we can go back and figure out when did that factor first arise.
Now that we have thought a bit about this issue, let’s try to apply our newfound knowledge to a concrete case. When does a life begin?
First of all, a disclaimer. Even though it is a very important factor, the philosophical discussion of the beginning of a life is not the end of the story with regards to abortion. There are other factors both clinical and pragmatic that bring nuance to the discussion and may even cause a change of opinion. In this text we will only focus on the philosophical aspects of when a life begins, not on whether abortion should be legal or not, and much less in what terms could it be legal. Are you all comfortable with this fact? Then let’s carry on.
Defining when does a life begin is an incredible subtle question. Not the least due to our very limited understand of what constitutes life itself. Further, there are many seemingly suitable moments from conception to birth to choose from.
Let’s start with probably the widest notion of life possible. The existence of the concept of that person. Then life begins when the parents first have the idea to have a child and ends when the last person forgets said person. This notion is incredibly vague and not of much practical use, but it gets thrown about often so it’s worth mentioning.
Another very popular notion is based on religious/spiritual beliefs. It is then understood that life has some “divine” component (often called the “soul”) and so life begins when that component is bestowed upon that person. More often that not, that moment is conception, but the details will vary between different sets of beliefs and is therefore highly personal.
Finally there are the clinical notions of life. A very common one, but a bit old fashioned, is heartbeat. As long as your heart is beating you are alive. And there are other similar notions related to the functioning of the body as a whole, or with breathing. Although useful in practice, these correspond more to “symptoms” of life, rather than the essence of being alive. As in, they are good and useful criteria to tell if someone is actually alive, but they don’t really hit at the core of the problem. Is breathing or heartbeat the thing that makes of alive, or the fact that you are alive implies your heart must be beating and that you must be breathing?
Another criterion, also on the clinical side, that more closely goes at the essence of life is related to brain function. The idea here is to connect the notion of being alive to your brain being functional. This seems deeper because it’s in your brain that your personality is stored, as far as current scientific knowledge goes. It looks as if it’s that brain that makes you you. So that seems like a more direct concept. A potential criticism (or advantage depending on how you see it) is that all these clinical notions are based on our current understanding of science and may change as we learn more about the human body.
As you can see, a seemingly abstract and pointless discussion about when does a story begin led us to pondering on the definition of life. That is very often the way of philosophy, grabbing us when we least expect it. But true philosophical discussion is not made of dry old texts (or posts like this one), it’s made of active thought and discussion. So, more important than this rambling is: what do you think about all this? When does a story begin, when does life begin?
BEGINNINGS
JANUARY 2020
When does a book begin? Is it on the first page, on the cover? Is it when we start to read it, or when we buy it, or when we have the idea of buying it? Maybe, it’s when the author finishes it, or perhaps when they first have the idea of writing a book in the first place. When does a story begin?
Well, why do I care? This seems a bit silly. I read a book, I either liked or not, it doesn’t matter when I precisely define when the book started. But, like many things in philosophy, this question is a mere avatar of deeper problems. If we want to retell a historical event for instance, deciding where to begin may be a highly non-trivial matter. It can completely change the narrative we are constructing and lead the reader this or that way in interpreting the events. Relatedly, many countries have had referendums to decide when does a human life start. Whether we like it or not, these seemingly abstract discussions can have concrete consequences on or lives. Let’s indulge in this philosophical question. When does a story begin?
Well, a good way to start is to actually try to understand what is the thing that is actually beginning. What is the point. Do we want to talk about the story, or the physical book, or maybe of our experience of reading the book, or the whole circumstances behind the existence of said book. Understanding any of these remarks will directly lead to one of the options in the opening paragraph.
Let’s take a historical example, World War II. Usually we want to talk about the European conflict so we state 1939 with the German invasion of Poland. But if we want to talk about the conflict in a global sense perhaps 1931 with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria is more appropriate. Or maybe what we really want to talk about is the Nazi regime, then 1919 with the creation of the party, or 1933 with Hitler’s nomination to the office of chancellor sound like good options. Once more, defining what it is we are talking about clearly outlines where we should begin our tale. And also note, that starting from different points will completely shift the narrative, saying WWII starts in 1939 completely neglects a considerable portion of the conflict in China.
But there is a problem with this method. We may not know what exactly do we want to talk about. Perhaps we are trying to decide where the thing begins in order to figure out what is the essence of said thing. What do we do then? Well in that case we could try something slightly more indirect, we could try to understand when did it end. It may be just as hard to answer this second question, but sometimes it isn’t. Sometimes one looks back and says “clearly this is where this ended” and then we can try to figure out why is that true. This will then lead us to the one factor that was the essence and that, once gone, made the thing end. And then we can go back and figure out when did that factor first arise.
Now that we have thought a bit about this issue, let’s try to apply our newfound knowledge to a concrete case. When does a life begin?
First of all, a disclaimer. Even though it is a very important factor, the philosophical discussion of the beginning of a life is not the end of the story with regards to abortion. There are other factors both clinical and pragmatic that bring nuance to the discussion and may even cause a change of opinion. In this text we will only focus on the philosophical aspects of when a life begins, not on whether abortion should be legal or not, and much less in what terms could it be legal. Are you all comfortable with this fact? Then let’s carry on.
Defining when does a life begin is an incredible subtle question. Not the least due to our very limited understand of what constitutes life itself. Further, there are many seemingly suitable moments from conception to birth to choose from.
Let’s start with probably the widest notion of life possible. The existence of the concept of that person. Then life begins when the parents first have the idea to have a child and ends when the last person forgets said person. This notion is incredibly vague and not of much practical use, but it gets thrown about often so it’s worth mentioning.
Another very popular notion is based on religious/spiritual beliefs. It is then understood that life has some “divine” component (often called the “soul”) and so life begins when that component is bestowed upon that person. More often that not, that moment is conception, but the details will vary between different sets of beliefs and is therefore highly personal.
Finally there are the clinical notions of life. A very common one, but a bit old fashioned, is heartbeat. As long as your heart is beating you are alive. And there are other similar notions related to the functioning of the body as a whole, or with breathing. Although useful in practice, these correspond more to “symptoms” of life, rather than the essence of being alive. As in, they are good and useful criteria to tell if someone is actually alive, but they don’t really hit at the core of the problem. Is breathing or heartbeat the thing that makes of alive, or the fact that you are alive implies your heart must be beating and that you must be breathing?
Another criterion, also on the clinical side, that more closely goes at the essence of life is related to brain function. The idea here is to connect the notion of being alive to your brain being functional. This seems deeper because it’s in your brain that your personality is stored, as far as current scientific knowledge goes. It looks as if it’s that brain that makes you you. So that seems like a more direct concept. A potential criticism (or advantage depending on how you see it) is that all these clinical notions are based on our current understanding of science and may change as we learn more about the human body.
As you can see, a seemingly abstract and pointless discussion about when does a story begin led us to pondering on the definition of life. That is very often the way of philosophy, grabbing us when we least expect it. But true philosophical discussion is not made of dry old texts (or posts like this one), it’s made of active thought and discussion. So, more important than this rambling is: what do you think about all this? When does a story begin, when does life begin?
BEGINNINGS
JANUARY 2020
When does a book begin? Is it on the first page, on the cover? Is it when we start to read it, or when we buy it, or when we have the idea of buying it? Maybe, it’s when the author finishes it, or perhaps when they first have the idea of writing a book in the first place. When does a story begin?
Well, why do I care? This seems a bit silly. I read a book, I either liked or not, it doesn’t matter when I precisely define when the book started. But, like many things in philosophy, this question is a mere avatar of deeper problems. If we want to retell a historical event for instance, deciding where to begin may be a highly non-trivial matter. It can completely change the narrative we are constructing and lead the reader this or that way in interpreting the events. Relatedly, many countries have had referendums to decide when does a human life start. Whether we like it or not, these seemingly abstract discussions can have concrete consequences on or lives. Let’s indulge in this philosophical question. When does a story begin?
Well, a good way to start is to actually try to understand what is the thing that is actually beginning. What is the point. Do we want to talk about the story, or the physical book, or maybe of our experience of reading the book, or the whole circumstances behind the existence of said book. Understanding any of these remarks will directly lead to one of the options in the opening paragraph.
Let’s take a historical example, World War II. Usually we want to talk about the European conflict so we state 1939 with the German invasion of Poland. But if we want to talk about the conflict in a global sense perhaps 1931 with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria is more appropriate. Or maybe what we really want to talk about is the Nazi regime, then 1919 with the creation of the party, or 1933 with Hitler’s nomination to the office of chancellor sound like good options. Once more, defining what it is we are talking about clearly outlines where we should begin our tale. And also note, that starting from different points will completely shift the narrative, saying WWII starts in 1939 completely neglects a considerable portion of the conflict in China.
But there is a problem with this method. We may not know what exactly do we want to talk about. Perhaps we are trying to decide where the thing begins in order to figure out what is the essence of said thing. What do we do then? Well in that case we could try something slightly more indirect, we could try to understand when did it end. It may be just as hard to answer this second question, but sometimes it isn’t. Sometimes one looks back and says “clearly this is where this ended” and then we can try to figure out why is that true. This will then lead us to the one factor that was the essence and that, once gone, made the thing end. And then we can go back and figure out when did that factor first arise.
Now that we have thought a bit about this issue, let’s try to apply our newfound knowledge to a concrete case. When does a life begin?
First of all, a disclaimer. Even though it is a very important factor, the philosophical discussion of the beginning of a life is not the end of the story with regards to abortion. There are other factors both clinical and pragmatic that bring nuance to the discussion and may even cause a change of opinion. In this text we will only focus on the philosophical aspects of when a life begins, not on whether abortion should be legal or not, and much less in what terms could it be legal. Are you all comfortable with this fact? Then let’s carry on.
Defining when does a life begin is an incredible subtle question. Not the least due to our very limited understand of what constitutes life itself. Further, there are many seemingly suitable moments from conception to birth to choose from.
Let’s start with probably the widest notion of life possible. The existence of the concept of that person. Then life begins when the parents first have the idea to have a child and ends when the last person forgets said person. This notion is incredibly vague and not of much practical use, but it gets thrown about often so it’s worth mentioning.
Another very popular notion is based on religious/spiritual beliefs. It is then understood that life has some “divine” component (often called the “soul”) and so life begins when that component is bestowed upon that person. More often that not, that moment is conception, but the details will vary between different sets of beliefs and is therefore highly personal.
Finally there are the clinical notions of life. A very common one, but a bit old fashioned, is heartbeat. As long as your heart is beating you are alive. And there are other similar notions related to the functioning of the body as a whole, or with breathing. Although useful in practice, these correspond more to “symptoms” of life, rather than the essence of being alive. As in, they are good and useful criteria to tell if someone is actually alive, but they don’t really hit at the core of the problem. Is breathing or heartbeat the thing that makes of alive, or the fact that you are alive implies your heart must be beating and that you must be breathing?
Another criterion, also on the clinical side, that more closely goes at the essence of life is related to brain function. The idea here is to connect the notion of being alive to your brain being functional. This seems deeper because it’s in your brain that your personality is stored, as far as current scientific knowledge goes. It looks as if it’s that brain that makes you you. So that seems like a more direct concept. A potential criticism (or advantage depending on how you see it) is that all these clinical notions are based on our current understanding of science and may change as we learn more about the human body.
As you can see, a seemingly abstract and pointless discussion about when does a story begin led us to pondering on the definition of life. That is very often the way of philosophy, grabbing us when we least expect it. But true philosophical discussion is not made of dry old texts (or posts like this one), it’s made of active thought and discussion. So, more important than this rambling is: what do you think about all this? When does a story begin, when does life begin?
BEGINNINGS
JANUARY 2020
When does a book begin? Is it on the first page, on the cover? Is it when we start to read it, or when we buy it, or when we have the idea of buying it? Maybe, it’s when the author finishes it, or perhaps when they first have the idea of writing a book in the first place. When does a story begin?
Well, why do I care? This seems a bit silly. I read a book, I either liked or not, it doesn’t matter when I precisely define when the book started. But, like many things in philosophy, this question is a mere avatar of deeper problems. If we want to retell a historical event for instance, deciding where to begin may be a highly non-trivial matter. It can completely change the narrative we are constructing and lead the reader this or that way in interpreting the events. Relatedly, many countries have had referendums to decide when does a human life start. Whether we like it or not, these seemingly abstract discussions can have concrete consequences on or lives. Let’s indulge in this philosophical question. When does a story begin?
Well, a good way to start is to actually try to understand what is the thing that is actually beginning. What is the point. Do we want to talk about the story, or the physical book, or maybe of our experience of reading the book, or the whole circumstances behind the existence of said book. Understanding any of these remarks will directly lead to one of the options in the opening paragraph.
Let’s take a historical example, World War II. Usually we want to talk about the European conflict so we state 1939 with the German invasion of Poland. But if we want to talk about the conflict in a global sense perhaps 1931 with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria is more appropriate. Or maybe what we really want to talk about is the Nazi regime, then 1919 with the creation of the party, or 1933 with Hitler’s nomination to the office of chancellor sound like good options. Once more, defining what it is we are talking about clearly outlines where we should begin our tale. And also note, that starting from different points will completely shift the narrative, saying WWII starts in 1939 completely neglects a considerable portion of the conflict in China.
But there is a problem with this method. We may not know what exactly do we want to talk about. Perhaps we are trying to decide where the thing begins in order to figure out what is the essence of said thing. What do we do then? Well in that case we could try something slightly more indirect, we could try to understand when did it end. It may be just as hard to answer this second question, but sometimes it isn’t. Sometimes one looks back and says “clearly this is where this ended” and then we can try to figure out why is that true. This will then lead us to the one factor that was the essence and that, once gone, made the thing end. And then we can go back and figure out when did that factor first arise.
Now that we have thought a bit about this issue, let’s try to apply our newfound knowledge to a concrete case. When does a life begin?
First of all, a disclaimer. Even though it is a very important factor, the philosophical discussion of the beginning of a life is not the end of the story with regards to abortion. There are other factors both clinical and pragmatic that bring nuance to the discussion and may even cause a change of opinion. In this text we will only focus on the philosophical aspects of when a life begins, not on whether abortion should be legal or not, and much less in what terms could it be legal. Are you all comfortable with this fact? Then let’s carry on.
Defining when does a life begin is an incredible subtle question. Not the least due to our very limited understand of what constitutes life itself. Further, there are many seemingly suitable moments from conception to birth to choose from.
Let’s start with probably the widest notion of life possible. The existence of the concept of that person. Then life begins when the parents first have the idea to have a child and ends when the last person forgets said person. This notion is incredibly vague and not of much practical use, but it gets thrown about often so it’s worth mentioning.
Another very popular notion is based on religious/spiritual beliefs. It is then understood that life has some “divine” component (often called the “soul”) and so life begins when that component is bestowed upon that person. More often that not, that moment is conception, but the details will vary between different sets of beliefs and is therefore highly personal.
Finally there are the clinical notions of life. A very common one, but a bit old fashioned, is heartbeat. As long as your heart is beating you are alive. And there are other similar notions related to the functioning of the body as a whole, or with breathing. Although useful in practice, these correspond more to “symptoms” of life, rather than the essence of being alive. As in, they are good and useful criteria to tell if someone is actually alive, but they don’t really hit at the core of the problem. Is breathing or heartbeat the thing that makes of alive, or the fact that you are alive implies your heart must be beating and that you must be breathing?
Another criterion, also on the clinical side, that more closely goes at the essence of life is related to brain function. The idea here is to connect the notion of being alive to your brain being functional. This seems deeper because it’s in your brain that your personality is stored, as far as current scientific knowledge goes. It looks as if it’s that brain that makes you you. So that seems like a more direct concept. A potential criticism (or advantage depending on how you see it) is that all these clinical notions are based on our current understanding of science and may change as we learn more about the human body.
As you can see, a seemingly abstract and pointless discussion about when does a story begin led us to pondering on the definition of life. That is very often the way of philosophy, grabbing us when we least expect it. But true philosophical discussion is not made of dry old texts (or posts like this one), it’s made of active thought and discussion. So, more important than this rambling is: what do you think about all this? When does a story begin, when does life begin?
BEGINNINGS
JANUARY 2020
When does a book begin? Is it on the first page, on the cover? Is it when we start to read it, or when we buy it, or when we have the idea of buying it? Maybe, it’s when the author finishes it, or perhaps when they first have the idea of writing a book in the first place. When does a story begin?
Well, why do I care? This seems a bit silly. I read a book, I either liked or not, it doesn’t matter when I precisely define when the book started. But, like many things in philosophy, this question is a mere avatar of deeper problems. If we want to retell a historical event for instance, deciding where to begin may be a highly non-trivial matter. It can completely change the narrative we are constructing and lead the reader this or that way in interpreting the events. Relatedly, many countries have had referendums to decide when does a human life start. Whether we like it or not, these seemingly abstract discussions can have concrete consequences on or lives. Let’s indulge in this philosophical question. When does a story begin?
Well, a good way to start is to actually try to understand what is the thing that is actually beginning. What is the point. Do we want to talk about the story, or the physical book, or maybe of our experience of reading the book, or the whole circumstances behind the existence of said book. Understanding any of these remarks will directly lead to one of the options in the opening paragraph.
Let’s take a historical example, World War II. Usually we want to talk about the European conflict so we state 1939 with the German invasion of Poland. But if we want to talk about the conflict in a global sense perhaps 1931 with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria is more appropriate. Or maybe what we really want to talk about is the Nazi regime, then 1919 with the creation of the party, or 1933 with Hitler’s nomination to the office of chancellor sound like good options. Once more, defining what it is we are talking about clearly outlines where we should begin our tale. And also note, that starting from different points will completely shift the narrative, saying WWII starts in 1939 completely neglects a considerable portion of the conflict in China.
But there is a problem with this method. We may not know what exactly do we want to talk about. Perhaps we are trying to decide where the thing begins in order to figure out what is the essence of said thing. What do we do then? Well in that case we could try something slightly more indirect, we could try to understand when did it end. It may be just as hard to answer this second question, but sometimes it isn’t. Sometimes one looks back and says “clearly this is where this ended” and then we can try to figure out why is that true. This will then lead us to the one factor that was the essence and that, once gone, made the thing end. And then we can go back and figure out when did that factor first arise.
Now that we have thought a bit about this issue, let’s try to apply our newfound knowledge to a concrete case. When does a life begin?
First of all, a disclaimer. Even though it is a very important factor, the philosophical discussion of the beginning of a life is not the end of the story with regards to abortion. There are other factors both clinical and pragmatic that bring nuance to the discussion and may even cause a change of opinion. In this text we will only focus on the philosophical aspects of when a life begins, not on whether abortion should be legal or not, and much less in what terms could it be legal. Are you all comfortable with this fact? Then let’s carry on.
Defining when does a life begin is an incredible subtle question. Not the least due to our very limited understand of what constitutes life itself. Further, there are many seemingly suitable moments from conception to birth to choose from.
Let’s start with probably the widest notion of life possible. The existence of the concept of that person. Then life begins when the parents first have the idea to have a child and ends when the last person forgets said person. This notion is incredibly vague and not of much practical use, but it gets thrown about often so it’s worth mentioning.
Another very popular notion is based on religious/spiritual beliefs. It is then understood that life has some “divine” component (often called the “soul”) and so life begins when that component is bestowed upon that person. More often that not, that moment is conception, but the details will vary between different sets of beliefs and is therefore highly personal.
Finally there are the clinical notions of life. A very common one, but a bit old fashioned, is heartbeat. As long as your heart is beating you are alive. And there are other similar notions related to the functioning of the body as a whole, or with breathing. Although useful in practice, these correspond more to “symptoms” of life, rather than the essence of being alive. As in, they are good and useful criteria to tell if someone is actually alive, but they don’t really hit at the core of the problem. Is breathing or heartbeat the thing that makes of alive, or the fact that you are alive implies your heart must be beating and that you must be breathing?
Another criterion, also on the clinical side, that more closely goes at the essence of life is related to brain function. The idea here is to connect the notion of being alive to your brain being functional. This seems deeper because it’s in your brain that your personality is stored, as far as current scientific knowledge goes. It looks as if it’s that brain that makes you you. So that seems like a more direct concept. A potential criticism (or advantage depending on how you see it) is that all these clinical notions are based on our current understanding of science and may change as we learn more about the human body.
As you can see, a seemingly abstract and pointless discussion about when does a story begin led us to pondering on the definition of life. That is very often the way of philosophy, grabbing us when we least expect it. But true philosophical discussion is not made of dry old texts (or posts like this one), it’s made of active thought and discussion. So, more important than this rambling is: what do you think about all this? When does a story begin, when does life begin?
BEGINNINGS
JANUARY 2020
When does a book begin? Is it on the first page, on the cover? Is it when we start to read it, or when we buy it, or when we have the idea of buying it? Maybe, it’s when the author finishes it, or perhaps when they first have the idea of writing a book in the first place. When does a story begin?
Well, why do I care? This seems a bit silly. I read a book, I either liked or not, it doesn’t matter when I precisely define when the book started. But, like many things in philosophy, this question is a mere avatar of deeper problems. If we want to retell a historical event for instance, deciding where to begin may be a highly non-trivial matter. It can completely change the narrative we are constructing and lead the reader this or that way in interpreting the events. Relatedly, many countries have had referendums to decide when does a human life start. Whether we like it or not, these seemingly abstract discussions can have concrete consequences on or lives. Let’s indulge in this philosophical question. When does a story begin?
Well, a good way to start is to actually try to understand what is the thing that is actually beginning. What is the point. Do we want to talk about the story, or the physical book, or maybe of our experience of reading the book, or the whole circumstances behind the existence of said book. Understanding any of these remarks will directly lead to one of the options in the opening paragraph.
Let’s take a historical example, World War II. Usually we want to talk about the European conflict so we state 1939 with the German invasion of Poland. But if we want to talk about the conflict in a global sense perhaps 1931 with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria is more appropriate. Or maybe what we really want to talk about is the Nazi regime, then 1919 with the creation of the party, or 1933 with Hitler’s nomination to the office of chancellor sound like good options. Once more, defining what it is we are talking about clearly outlines where we should begin our tale. And also note, that starting from different points will completely shift the narrative, saying WWII starts in 1939 completely neglects a considerable portion of the conflict in China.
But there is a problem with this method. We may not know what exactly do we want to talk about. Perhaps we are trying to decide where the thing begins in order to figure out what is the essence of said thing. What do we do then? Well in that case we could try something slightly more indirect, we could try to understand when did it end. It may be just as hard to answer this second question, but sometimes it isn’t. Sometimes one looks back and says “clearly this is where this ended” and then we can try to figure out why is that true. This will then lead us to the one factor that was the essence and that, once gone, made the thing end. And then we can go back and figure out when did that factor first arise.
Now that we have thought a bit about this issue, let’s try to apply our newfound knowledge to a concrete case. When does a life begin?
First of all, a disclaimer. Even though it is a very important factor, the philosophical discussion of the beginning of a life is not the end of the story with regards to abortion. There are other factors both clinical and pragmatic that bring nuance to the discussion and may even cause a change of opinion. In this text we will only focus on the philosophical aspects of when a life begins, not on whether abortion should be legal or not, and much less in what terms could it be legal. Are you all comfortable with this fact? Then let’s carry on.
Defining when does a life begin is an incredible subtle question. Not the least due to our very limited understand of what constitutes life itself. Further, there are many seemingly suitable moments from conception to birth to choose from.
Let’s start with probably the widest notion of life possible. The existence of the concept of that person. Then life begins when the parents first have the idea to have a child and ends when the last person forgets said person. This notion is incredibly vague and not of much practical use, but it gets thrown about often so it’s worth mentioning.
Another very popular notion is based on religious/spiritual beliefs. It is then understood that life has some “divine” component (often called the “soul”) and so life begins when that component is bestowed upon that person. More often that not, that moment is conception, but the details will vary between different sets of beliefs and is therefore highly personal.
Finally there are the clinical notions of life. A very common one, but a bit old fashioned, is heartbeat. As long as your heart is beating you are alive. And there are other similar notions related to the functioning of the body as a whole, or with breathing. Although useful in practice, these correspond more to “symptoms” of life, rather than the essence of being alive. As in, they are good and useful criteria to tell if someone is actually alive, but they don’t really hit at the core of the problem. Is breathing or heartbeat the thing that makes of alive, or the fact that you are alive implies your heart must be beating and that you must be breathing?
Another criterion, also on the clinical side, that more closely goes at the essence of life is related to brain function. The idea here is to connect the notion of being alive to your brain being functional. This seems deeper because it’s in your brain that your personality is stored, as far as current scientific knowledge goes. It looks as if it’s that brain that makes you you. So that seems like a more direct concept. A potential criticism (or advantage depending on how you see it) is that all these clinical notions are based on our current understanding of science and may change as we learn more about the human body.
As you can see, a seemingly abstract and pointless discussion about when does a story begin led us to pondering on the definition of life. That is very often the way of philosophy, grabbing us when we least expect it. But true philosophical discussion is not made of dry old texts (or posts like this one), it’s made of active thought and discussion. So, more important than this rambling is: what do you think about all this? When does a story begin, when does life begin?
BEGINNINGS
JANUARY 2020
When does a book begin? Is it on the first page, on the cover? Is it when we start to read it, or when we buy it, or when we have the idea of buying it? Maybe, it’s when the author finishes it, or perhaps when they first have the idea of writing a book in the first place. When does a story begin?
Well, why do I care? This seems a bit silly. I read a book, I either liked or not, it doesn’t matter when I precisely define when the book started. But, like many things in philosophy, this question is a mere avatar of deeper problems. If we want to retell a historical event for instance, deciding where to begin may be a highly non-trivial matter. It can completely change the narrative we are constructing and lead the reader this or that way in interpreting the events. Relatedly, many countries have had referendums to decide when does a human life start. Whether we like it or not, these seemingly abstract discussions can have concrete consequences on or lives. Let’s indulge in this philosophical question. When does a story begin?
Well, a good way to start is to actually try to understand what is the thing that is actually beginning. What is the point. Do we want to talk about the story, or the physical book, or maybe of our experience of reading the book, or the whole circumstances behind the existence of said book. Understanding any of these remarks will directly lead to one of the options in the opening paragraph.
Let’s take a historical example, World War II. Usually we want to talk about the European conflict so we state 1939 with the German invasion of Poland. But if we want to talk about the conflict in a global sense perhaps 1931 with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria is more appropriate. Or maybe what we really want to talk about is the Nazi regime, then 1919 with the creation of the party, or 1933 with Hitler’s nomination to the office of chancellor sound like good options. Once more, defining what it is we are talking about clearly outlines where we should begin our tale. And also note, that starting from different points will completely shift the narrative, saying WWII starts in 1939 completely neglects a considerable portion of the conflict in China.
But there is a problem with this method. We may not know what exactly do we want to talk about. Perhaps we are trying to decide where the thing begins in order to figure out what is the essence of said thing. What do we do then? Well in that case we could try something slightly more indirect, we could try to understand when did it end. It may be just as hard to answer this second question, but sometimes it isn’t. Sometimes one looks back and says “clearly this is where this ended” and then we can try to figure out why is that true. This will then lead us to the one factor that was the essence and that, once gone, made the thing end. And then we can go back and figure out when did that factor first arise.
Now that we have thought a bit about this issue, let’s try to apply our newfound knowledge to a concrete case. When does a life begin?
First of all, a disclaimer. Even though it is a very important factor, the philosophical discussion of the beginning of a life is not the end of the story with regards to abortion. There are other factors both clinical and pragmatic that bring nuance to the discussion and may even cause a change of opinion. In this text we will only focus on the philosophical aspects of when a life begins, not on whether abortion should be legal or not, and much less in what terms could it be legal. Are you all comfortable with this fact? Then let’s carry on.
Defining when does a life begin is an incredible subtle question. Not the least due to our very limited understand of what constitutes life itself. Further, there are many seemingly suitable moments from conception to birth to choose from.
Let’s start with probably the widest notion of life possible. The existence of the concept of that person. Then life begins when the parents first have the idea to have a child and ends when the last person forgets said person. This notion is incredibly vague and not of much practical use, but it gets thrown about often so it’s worth mentioning.
Another very popular notion is based on religious/spiritual beliefs. It is then understood that life has some “divine” component (often called the “soul”) and so life begins when that component is bestowed upon that person. More often that not, that moment is conception, but the details will vary between different sets of beliefs and is therefore highly personal.
Finally there are the clinical notions of life. A very common one, but a bit old fashioned, is heartbeat. As long as your heart is beating you are alive. And there are other similar notions related to the functioning of the body as a whole, or with breathing. Although useful in practice, these correspond more to “symptoms” of life, rather than the essence of being alive. As in, they are good and useful criteria to tell if someone is actually alive, but they don’t really hit at the core of the problem. Is breathing or heartbeat the thing that makes of alive, or the fact that you are alive implies your heart must be beating and that you must be breathing?
Another criterion, also on the clinical side, that more closely goes at the essence of life is related to brain function. The idea here is to connect the notion of being alive to your brain being functional. This seems deeper because it’s in your brain that your personality is stored, as far as current scientific knowledge goes. It looks as if it’s that brain that makes you you. So that seems like a more direct concept. A potential criticism (or advantage depending on how you see it) is that all these clinical notions are based on our current understanding of science and may change as we learn more about the human body.
As you can see, a seemingly abstract and pointless discussion about when does a story begin led us to pondering on the definition of life. That is very often the way of philosophy, grabbing us when we least expect it. But true philosophical discussion is not made of dry old texts (or posts like this one), it’s made of active thought and discussion. So, more important than this rambling is: what do you think about all this? When does a story begin, when does life begin?
BEGINNINGS
JANUARY 2020
When does a book begin? Is it on the first page, on the cover? Is it when we start to read it, or when we buy it, or when we have the idea of buying it? Maybe, it’s when the author finishes it, or perhaps when they first have the idea of writing a book in the first place. When does a story begin?
Well, why do I care? This seems a bit silly. I read a book, I either liked or not, it doesn’t matter when I precisely define when the book started. But, like many things in philosophy, this question is a mere avatar of deeper problems. If we want to retell a historical event for instance, deciding where to begin may be a highly non-trivial matter. It can completely change the narrative we are constructing and lead the reader this or that way in interpreting the events. Relatedly, many countries have had referendums to decide when does a human life start. Whether we like it or not, these seemingly abstract discussions can have concrete consequences on or lives. Let’s indulge in this philosophical question. When does a story begin?
Well, a good way to start is to actually try to understand what is the thing that is actually beginning. What is the point. Do we want to talk about the story, or the physical book, or maybe of our experience of reading the book, or the whole circumstances behind the existence of said book. Understanding any of these remarks will directly lead to one of the options in the opening paragraph.
Let’s take a historical example, World War II. Usually we want to talk about the European conflict so we state 1939 with the German invasion of Poland. But if we want to talk about the conflict in a global sense perhaps 1931 with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria is more appropriate. Or maybe what we really want to talk about is the Nazi regime, then 1919 with the creation of the party, or 1933 with Hitler’s nomination to the office of chancellor sound like good options. Once more, defining what it is we are talking about clearly outlines where we should begin our tale. And also note, that starting from different points will completely shift the narrative, saying WWII starts in 1939 completely neglects a considerable portion of the conflict in China.
But there is a problem with this method. We may not know what exactly do we want to talk about. Perhaps we are trying to decide where the thing begins in order to figure out what is the essence of said thing. What do we do then? Well in that case we could try something slightly more indirect, we could try to understand when did it end. It may be just as hard to answer this second question, but sometimes it isn’t. Sometimes one looks back and says “clearly this is where this ended” and then we can try to figure out why is that true. This will then lead us to the one factor that was the essence and that, once gone, made the thing end. And then we can go back and figure out when did that factor first arise.
Now that we have thought a bit about this issue, let’s try to apply our newfound knowledge to a concrete case. When does a life begin?
First of all, a disclaimer. Even though it is a very important factor, the philosophical discussion of the beginning of a life is not the end of the story with regards to abortion. There are other factors both clinical and pragmatic that bring nuance to the discussion and may even cause a change of opinion. In this text we will only focus on the philosophical aspects of when a life begins, not on whether abortion should be legal or not, and much less in what terms could it be legal. Are you all comfortable with this fact? Then let’s carry on.
Defining when does a life begin is an incredible subtle question. Not the least due to our very limited understand of what constitutes life itself. Further, there are many seemingly suitable moments from conception to birth to choose from.
Let’s start with probably the widest notion of life possible. The existence of the concept of that person. Then life begins when the parents first have the idea to have a child and ends when the last person forgets said person. This notion is incredibly vague and not of much practical use, but it gets thrown about often so it’s worth mentioning.
Another very popular notion is based on religious/spiritual beliefs. It is then understood that life has some “divine” component (often called the “soul”) and so life begins when that component is bestowed upon that person. More often that not, that moment is conception, but the details will vary between different sets of beliefs and is therefore highly personal.
Finally there are the clinical notions of life. A very common one, but a bit old fashioned, is heartbeat. As long as your heart is beating you are alive. And there are other similar notions related to the functioning of the body as a whole, or with breathing. Although useful in practice, these correspond more to “symptoms” of life, rather than the essence of being alive. As in, they are good and useful criteria to tell if someone is actually alive, but they don’t really hit at the core of the problem. Is breathing or heartbeat the thing that makes of alive, or the fact that you are alive implies your heart must be beating and that you must be breathing?
Another criterion, also on the clinical side, that more closely goes at the essence of life is related to brain function. The idea here is to connect the notion of being alive to your brain being functional. This seems deeper because it’s in your brain that your personality is stored, as far as current scientific knowledge goes. It looks as if it’s that brain that makes you you. So that seems like a more direct concept. A potential criticism (or advantage depending on how you see it) is that all these clinical notions are based on our current understanding of science and may change as we learn more about the human body.
As you can see, a seemingly abstract and pointless discussion about when does a story begin led us to pondering on the definition of life. That is very often the way of philosophy, grabbing us when we least expect it. But true philosophical discussion is not made of dry old texts (or posts like this one), it’s made of active thought and discussion. So, more important than this rambling is: what do you think about all this? When does a story begin, when does life begin?
BEGINNINGS
JANUARY 2020
When does a book begin? Is it on the first page, on the cover? Is it when we start to read it, or when we buy it, or when we have the idea of buying it? Maybe, it’s when the author finishes it, or perhaps when they first have the idea of writing a book in the first place. When does a story begin?
Well, why do I care? This seems a bit silly. I read a book, I either liked or not, it doesn’t matter when I precisely define when the book started. But, like many things in philosophy, this question is a mere avatar of deeper problems. If we want to retell a historical event for instance, deciding where to begin may be a highly non-trivial matter. It can completely change the narrative we are constructing and lead the reader this or that way in interpreting the events. Relatedly, many countries have had referendums to decide when does a human life start. Whether we like it or not, these seemingly abstract discussions can have concrete consequences on or lives. Let’s indulge in this philosophical question. When does a story begin?
Well, a good way to start is to actually try to understand what is the thing that is actually beginning. What is the point. Do we want to talk about the story, or the physical book, or maybe of our experience of reading the book, or the whole circumstances behind the existence of said book. Understanding any of these remarks will directly lead to one of the options in the opening paragraph.
Let’s take a historical example, World War II. Usually we want to talk about the European conflict so we state 1939 with the German invasion of Poland. But if we want to talk about the conflict in a global sense perhaps 1931 with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria is more appropriate. Or maybe what we really want to talk about is the Nazi regime, then 1919 with the creation of the party, or 1933 with Hitler’s nomination to the office of chancellor sound like good options. Once more, defining what it is we are talking about clearly outlines where we should begin our tale. And also note, that starting from different points will completely shift the narrative, saying WWII starts in 1939 completely neglects a considerable portion of the conflict in China.
But there is a problem with this method. We may not know what exactly do we want to talk about. Perhaps we are trying to decide where the thing begins in order to figure out what is the essence of said thing. What do we do then? Well in that case we could try something slightly more indirect, we could try to understand when did it end. It may be just as hard to answer this second question, but sometimes it isn’t. Sometimes one looks back and says “clearly this is where this ended” and then we can try to figure out why is that true. This will then lead us to the one factor that was the essence and that, once gone, made the thing end. And then we can go back and figure out when did that factor first arise.
Now that we have thought a bit about this issue, let’s try to apply our newfound knowledge to a concrete case. When does a life begin?
First of all, a disclaimer. Even though it is a very important factor, the philosophical discussion of the beginning of a life is not the end of the story with regards to abortion. There are other factors both clinical and pragmatic that bring nuance to the discussion and may even cause a change of opinion. In this text we will only focus on the philosophical aspects of when a life begins, not on whether abortion should be legal or not, and much less in what terms could it be legal. Are you all comfortable with this fact? Then let’s carry on.
Defining when does a life begin is an incredible subtle question. Not the least due to our very limited understand of what constitutes life itself. Further, there are many seemingly suitable moments from conception to birth to choose from.
Let’s start with probably the widest notion of life possible. The existence of the concept of that person. Then life begins when the parents first have the idea to have a child and ends when the last person forgets said person. This notion is incredibly vague and not of much practical use, but it gets thrown about often so it’s worth mentioning.
Another very popular notion is based on religious/spiritual beliefs. It is then understood that life has some “divine” component (often called the “soul”) and so life begins when that component is bestowed upon that person. More often that not, that moment is conception, but the details will vary between different sets of beliefs and is therefore highly personal.
Finally there are the clinical notions of life. A very common one, but a bit old fashioned, is heartbeat. As long as your heart is beating you are alive. And there are other similar notions related to the functioning of the body as a whole, or with breathing. Although useful in practice, these correspond more to “symptoms” of life, rather than the essence of being alive. As in, they are good and useful criteria to tell if someone is actually alive, but they don’t really hit at the core of the problem. Is breathing or heartbeat the thing that makes of alive, or the fact that you are alive implies your heart must be beating and that you must be breathing?
Another criterion, also on the clinical side, that more closely goes at the essence of life is related to brain function. The idea here is to connect the notion of being alive to your brain being functional. This seems deeper because it’s in your brain that your personality is stored, as far as current scientific knowledge goes. It looks as if it’s that brain that makes you you. So that seems like a more direct concept. A potential criticism (or advantage depending on how you see it) is that all these clinical notions are based on our current understanding of science and may change as we learn more about the human body.
As you can see, a seemingly abstract and pointless discussion about when does a story begin led us to pondering on the definition of life. That is very often the way of philosophy, grabbing us when we least expect it. But true philosophical discussion is not made of dry old texts (or posts like this one), it’s made of active thought and discussion. So, more important than this rambling is: what do you think about all this? When does a story begin, when does life begin?
JANUARY 2020
JANUARY 2020
BEGINNINGS
JANUARY 2020
When does a book begin? Is it on the first page, on the cover? Is it when we start to read it, or when we buy it, or when we have the idea of buying it? Maybe, it’s when the author finishes it, or perhaps when they first have the idea of writing a book in the first place. When does a story begin?
Well, why do I care? This seems a bit silly. I read a book, I either liked or not, it doesn’t matter when I precisely define when the book started. But, like many things in philosophy, this question is a mere avatar of deeper problems. If we want to retell a historical event for instance, deciding where to begin may be a highly non-trivial matter. It can completely change the narrative we are constructing and lead the reader this or that way in interpreting the events. Relatedly, many countries have had referendums to decide when does a human life start. Whether we like it or not, these seemingly abstract discussions can have concrete consequences on or lives. Let’s indulge in this philosophical question. When does a story begin?
Well, a good way to start is to actually try to understand what is the thing that is actually beginning. What is the point. Do we want to talk about the story, or the physical book, or maybe of our experience of reading the book, or the whole circumstances behind the existence of said book. Understanding any of these remarks will directly lead to one of the options in the opening paragraph.
Let’s take a historical example, World War II. Usually we want to talk about the European conflict so we state 1939 with the German invasion of Poland. But if we want to talk about the conflict in a global sense perhaps 1931 with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria is more appropriate. Or maybe what we really want to talk about is the Nazi regime, then 1919 with the creation of the party, or 1933 with Hitler’s nomination to the office of chancellor sound like good options. Once more, defining what it is we are talking about clearly outlines where we should begin our tale. And also note, that starting from different points will completely shift the narrative, saying WWII starts in 1939 completely neglects a considerable portion of the conflict in China.
But there is a problem with this method. We may not know what exactly do we want to talk about. Perhaps we are trying to decide where the thing begins in order to figure out what is the essence of said thing. What do we do then? Well in that case we could try something slightly more indirect, we could try to understand when did it end. It may be just as hard to answer this second question, but sometimes it isn’t. Sometimes one looks back and says “clearly this is where this ended” and then we can try to figure out why is that true. This will then lead us to the one factor that was the essence and that, once gone, made the thing end. And then we can go back and figure out when did that factor first arise.
Now that we have thought a bit about this issue, let’s try to apply our newfound knowledge to a concrete case. When does a life begin?
First of all, a disclaimer. Even though it is a very important factor, the philosophical discussion of the beginning of a life is not the end of the story with regards to abortion. There are other factors both clinical and pragmatic that bring nuance to the discussion and may even cause a change of opinion. In this text we will only focus on the philosophical aspects of when a life begins, not on whether abortion should be legal or not, and much less in what terms could it be legal. Are you all comfortable with this fact? Then let’s carry on.
Defining when does a life begin is an incredible subtle question. Not the least due to our very limited understand of what constitutes life itself. Further, there are many seemingly suitable moments from conception to birth to choose from.
Let’s start with probably the widest notion of life possible. The existence of the concept of that person. Then life begins when the parents first have the idea to have a child and ends when the last person forgets said person. This notion is incredibly vague and not of much practical use, but it gets thrown about often so it’s worth mentioning.
Another very popular notion is based on religious/spiritual beliefs. It is then understood that life has some “divine” component (often called the “soul”) and so life begins when that component is bestowed upon that person. More often that not, that moment is conception, but the details will vary between different sets of beliefs and is therefore highly personal.
Finally there are the clinical notions of life. A very common one, but a bit old fashioned, is heartbeat. As long as your heart is beating you are alive. And there are other similar notions related to the functioning of the body as a whole, or with breathing. Although useful in practice, these correspond more to “symptoms” of life, rather than the essence of being alive. As in, they are good and useful criteria to tell if someone is actually alive, but they don’t really hit at the core of the problem. Is breathing or heartbeat the thing that makes of alive, or the fact that you are alive implies your heart must be beating and that you must be breathing?
Another criterion, also on the clinical side, that more closely goes at the essence of life is related to brain function. The idea here is to connect the notion of being alive to your brain being functional. This seems deeper because it’s in your brain that your personality is stored, as far as current scientific knowledge goes. It looks as if it’s that brain that makes you you. So that seems like a more direct concept. A potential criticism (or advantage depending on how you see it) is that all these clinical notions are based on our current understanding of science and may change as we learn more about the human body.
As you can see, a seemingly abstract and pointless discussion about when does a story begin led us to pondering on the definition of life. That is very often the way of philosophy, grabbing us when we least expect it. But true philosophical discussion is not made of dry old texts (or posts like this one), it’s made of active thought and discussion. So, more important than this rambling is: what do you think about all this? When does a story begin, when does life begin?
BEGINNINGS
When does a book begin? Is it on the first page, on the cover? Is it when we start to read it, or when we buy it, or when we have the idea of buying it? Maybe, it’s when the author finishes it, or perhaps when they first have the idea of writing a book in the first place. When does a story begin?
Well, why do I care? This seems a bit silly. I read a book, I either liked or not, it doesn’t matter when I precisely define when the book started. But, like many things in philosophy, this question is a mere avatar of deeper problems. If we want to retell a historical event for instance, deciding where to begin may be a highly non-trivial matter. It can completely change the narrative we are constructing and lead the reader this or that way in interpreting the events. Relatedly, many countries have had referendums to decide when does a human life start. Whether we like it or not, these seemingly abstract discussions can have concrete consequences on or lives. Let’s indulge in this philosophical question. When does a story begin?
Well, a good way to start is to actually try to understand what is the thing that is actually beginning. What is the point. Do we want to talk about the story, or the physical book, or maybe of our experience of reading the book, or the whole circumstances behind the existence of said book. Understanding any of these remarks will directly lead to one of the options in the opening paragraph.
Let’s take a historical example, World War II. Usually we want to talk about the European conflict so we state 1939 with the German invasion of Poland. But if we want to talk about the conflict in a global sense perhaps 1931 with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria is more appropriate. Or maybe what we really want to talk about is the Nazi regime, then 1919 with the creation of the party, or 1933 with Hitler’s nomination to the office of chancellor sound like good options. Once more, defining what it is we are talking about clearly outlines where we should begin our tale. And also note, that starting from different points will completely shift the narrative, saying WWII starts in 1939 completely neglects a considerable portion of the conflict in China.
But there is a problem with this method. We may not know what exactly do we want to talk about. Perhaps we are trying to decide where the thing begins in order to figure out what is the essence of said thing. What do we do then? Well in that case we could try something slightly more indirect, we could try to understand when did it end. It may be just as hard to answer this second question, but sometimes it isn’t. Sometimes one looks back and says “clearly this is where this ended” and then we can try to figure out why is that true. This will then lead us to the one factor that was the essence and that, once gone, made the thing end. And then we can go back and figure out when did that factor first arise.
Now that we have thought a bit about this issue, let’s try to apply our newfound knowledge to a concrete case. When does a life begin?
First of all, a disclaimer. Even though it is a very important factor, the philosophical discussion of the beginning of a life is not the end of the story with regards to abortion. There are other factors both clinical and pragmatic that bring nuance to the discussion and may even cause a change of opinion. In this text we will only focus on the philosophical aspects of when a life begins, not on whether abortion should be legal or not, and much less in what terms could it be legal. Are you all comfortable with this fact? Then let’s carry on.
Defining when does a life begin is an incredible subtle question. Not the least due to our very limited understand of what constitutes life itself. Further, there are many seemingly suitable moments from conception to birth to choose from.
Let’s start with probably the widest notion of life possible. The existence of the concept of that person. Then life begins when the parents first have the idea to have a child and ends when the last person forgets said person. This notion is incredibly vague and not of much practical use, but it gets thrown about often so it’s worth mentioning.
Another very popular notion is based on religious/spiritual beliefs. It is then understood that life has some “divine” component (often called the “soul”) and so life begins when that component is bestowed upon that person. More often that not, that moment is conception, but the details will vary between different sets of beliefs and is therefore highly personal.
Finally there are the clinical notions of life. A very common one, but a bit old fashioned, is heartbeat. As long as your heart is beating you are alive. And there are other similar notions related to the functioning of the body as a whole, or with breathing. Although useful in practice, these correspond more to “symptoms” of life, rather than the essence of being alive. As in, they are good and useful criteria to tell if someone is actually alive, but they don’t really hit at the core of the problem. Is breathing or heartbeat the thing that makes of alive, or the fact that you are alive implies your heart must be beating and that you must be breathing?
Another criterion, also on the clinical side, that more closely goes at the essence of life is related to brain function. The idea here is to connect the notion of being alive to your brain being functional. This seems deeper because it’s in your brain that your personality is stored, as far as current scientific knowledge goes. It looks as if it’s that brain that makes you you. So that seems like a more direct concept. A potential criticism (or advantage depending on how you see it) is that all these clinical notions are based on our current understanding of science and may change as we learn more about the human body.
As you can see, a seemingly abstract and pointless discussion about when does a story begin led us to pondering on the definition of life. That is very often the way of philosophy, grabbing us when we least expect it. But true philosophical discussion is not made of dry old texts (or posts like this one), it’s made of active thought and discussion. So, more important than this rambling is: what do you think about all this? When does a story begin, when does life begin?
BEGINNINGS
JANUARY 2020
When does a book begin? Is it on the first page, on the cover? Is it when we start to read it, or when we buy it, or when we have the idea of buying it? Maybe, it’s when the author finishes it, or perhaps when they first have the idea of writing a book in the first place. When does a story begin?
Well, why do I care? This seems a bit silly. I read a book, I either liked or not, it doesn’t matter when I precisely define when the book started. But, like many things in philosophy, this question is a mere avatar of deeper problems. If we want to retell a historical event for instance, deciding where to begin may be a highly non-trivial matter. It can completely change the narrative we are constructing and lead the reader this or that way in interpreting the events. Relatedly, many countries have had referendums to decide when does a human life start. Whether we like it or not, these seemingly abstract discussions can have concrete consequences on or lives. Let’s indulge in this philosophical question. When does a story begin?
Well, a good way to start is to actually try to understand what is the thing that is actually beginning. What is the point. Do we want to talk about the story, or the physical book, or maybe of our experience of reading the book, or the whole circumstances behind the existence of said book. Understanding any of these remarks will directly lead to one of the options in the opening paragraph.
Let’s take a historical example, World War II. Usually we want to talk about the European conflict so we state 1939 with the German invasion of Poland. But if we want to talk about the conflict in a global sense perhaps 1931 with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria is more appropriate. Or maybe what we really want to talk about is the Nazi regime, then 1919 with the creation of the party, or 1933 with Hitler’s nomination to the office of chancellor sound like good options. Once more, defining what it is we are talking about clearly outlines where we should begin our tale. And also note, that starting from different points will completely shift the narrative, saying WWII starts in 1939 completely neglects a considerable portion of the conflict in China.
But there is a problem with this method. We may not know what exactly do we want to talk about. Perhaps we are trying to decide where the thing begins in order to figure out what is the essence of said thing. What do we do then? Well in that case we could try something slightly more indirect, we could try to understand when did it end. It may be just as hard to answer this second question, but sometimes it isn’t. Sometimes one looks back and says “clearly this is where this ended” and then we can try to figure out why is that true. This will then lead us to the one factor that was the essence and that, once gone, made the thing end. And then we can go back and figure out when did that factor first arise.
Now that we have thought a bit about this issue, let’s try to apply our newfound knowledge to a concrete case. When does a life begin?
First of all, a disclaimer. Even though it is a very important factor, the philosophical discussion of the beginning of a life is not the end of the story with regards to abortion. There are other factors both clinical and pragmatic that bring nuance to the discussion and may even cause a change of opinion. In this text we will only focus on the philosophical aspects of when a life begins, not on whether abortion should be legal or not, and much less in what terms could it be legal. Are you all comfortable with this fact? Then let’s carry on.
Defining when does a life begin is an incredible subtle question. Not the least due to our very limited understand of what constitutes life itself. Further, there are many seemingly suitable moments from conception to birth to choose from.
Let’s start with probably the widest notion of life possible. The existence of the concept of that person. Then life begins when the parents first have the idea to have a child and ends when the last person forgets said person. This notion is incredibly vague and not of much practical use, but it gets thrown about often so it’s worth mentioning.
Another very popular notion is based on religious/spiritual beliefs. It is then understood that life has some “divine” component (often called the “soul”) and so life begins when that component is bestowed upon that person. More often that not, that moment is conception, but the details will vary between different sets of beliefs and is therefore highly personal.
Finally there are the clinical notions of life. A very common one, but a bit old fashioned, is heartbeat. As long as your heart is beating you are alive. And there are other similar notions related to the functioning of the body as a whole, or with breathing. Although useful in practice, these correspond more to “symptoms” of life, rather than the essence of being alive. As in, they are good and useful criteria to tell if someone is actually alive, but they don’t really hit at the core of the problem. Is breathing or heartbeat the thing that makes of alive, or the fact that you are alive implies your heart must be beating and that you must be breathing?
Another criterion, also on the clinical side, that more closely goes at the essence of life is related to brain function. The idea here is to connect the notion of being alive to your brain being functional. This seems deeper because it’s in your brain that your personality is stored, as far as current scientific knowledge goes. It looks as if it’s that brain that makes you you. So that seems like a more direct concept. A potential criticism (or advantage depending on how you see it) is that all these clinical notions are based on our current understanding of science and may change as we learn more about the human body.
As you can see, a seemingly abstract and pointless discussion about when does a story begin led us to pondering on the definition of life. That is very often the way of philosophy, grabbing us when we least expect it. But true philosophical discussion is not made of dry old texts (or posts like this one), it’s made of active thought and discussion. So, more important than this rambling is: what do you think about all this? When does a story begin, when does life begin?
When does a book begin? Is it on the first page, on the cover? Is it when we start to read it, or when we buy it, or when we have the idea of buying it? Maybe, it’s when the author finishes it, or perhaps when they first have the idea of writing a book in the first place. When does a story begin?
Well, why do I care? This seems a bit silly. I read a book, I either liked or not, it doesn’t matter when I precisely define when the book started. But, like many things in philosophy, this question is a mere avatar of deeper problems. If we want to retell a historical event for instance, deciding where to begin may be a highly non-trivial matter. It can completely change the narrative we are constructing and lead the reader this or that way in interpreting the events. Relatedly, many countries have had referendums to decide when does a human life start. Whether we like it or not, these seemingly abstract discussions can have concrete consequences on or lives. Let’s indulge in this philosophical question. When does a story begin?
Well, a good way to start is to actually try to understand what is the thing that is actually beginning. What is the point. Do we want to talk about the story, or the physical book, or maybe of our experience of reading the book, or the whole circumstances behind the existence of said book. Understanding any of these remarks will directly lead to one of the options in the opening paragraph.
Let’s take a historical example, World War II. Usually we want to talk about the European conflict so we state 1939 with the German invasion of Poland. But if we want to talk about the conflict in a global sense perhaps 1931 with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria is more appropriate. Or maybe what we really want to talk about is the Nazi regime, then 1919 with the creation of the party, or 1933 with Hitler’s nomination to the office of chancellor sound like good options. Once more, defining what it is we are talking about clearly outlines where we should begin our tale. And also note, that starting from different points will completely shift the narrative, saying WWII starts in 1939 completely neglects a considerable portion of the conflict in China.
But there is a problem with this method. We may not know what exactly do we want to talk about. Perhaps we are trying to decide where the thing begins in order to figure out what is the essence of said thing. What do we do then? Well in that case we could try something slightly more indirect, we could try to understand when did it end. It may be just as hard to answer this second question, but sometimes it isn’t. Sometimes one looks back and says “clearly this is where this ended” and then we can try to figure out why is that true. This will then lead us to the one factor that was the essence and that, once gone, made the thing end. And then we can go back and figure out when did that factor first arise.
Now that we have thought a bit about this issue, let’s try to apply our newfound knowledge to a concrete case. When does a life begin?
First of all, a disclaimer. Even though it is a very important factor, the philosophical discussion of the beginning of a life is not the end of the story with regards to abortion. There are other factors both clinical and pragmatic that bring nuance to the discussion and may even cause a change of opinion. In this text we will only focus on the philosophical aspects of when a life begins, not on whether abortion should be legal or not, and much less in what terms could it be legal. Are you all comfortable with this fact? Then let’s carry on.
Defining when does a life begin is an incredible subtle question. Not the least due to our very limited understand of what constitutes life itself. Further, there are many seemingly suitable moments from conception to birth to choose from.
Let’s start with probably the widest notion of life possible. The existence of the concept of that person. Then life begins when the parents first have the idea to have a child and ends when the last person forgets said person. This notion is incredibly vague and not of much practical use, but it gets thrown about often so it’s worth mentioning.
Another very popular notion is based on religious/spiritual beliefs. It is then understood that life has some “divine” component (often called the “soul”) and so life begins when that component is bestowed upon that person. More often that not, that moment is conception, but the details will vary between different sets of beliefs and is therefore highly personal.
Finally there are the clinical notions of life. A very common one, but a bit old fashioned, is heartbeat. As long as your heart is beating you are alive. And there are other similar notions related to the functioning of the body as a whole, or with breathing. Although useful in practice, these correspond more to “symptoms” of life, rather than the essence of being alive. As in, they are good and useful criteria to tell if someone is actually alive, but they don’t really hit at the core of the problem. Is breathing or heartbeat the thing that makes of alive, or the fact that you are alive implies your heart must be beating and that you must be breathing?
Another criterion, also on the clinical side, that more closely goes at the essence of life is related to brain function. The idea here is to connect the notion of being alive to your brain being functional. This seems deeper because it’s in your brain that your personality is stored, as far as current scientific knowledge goes. It looks as if it’s that brain that makes you you. So that seems like a more direct concept. A potential criticism (or advantage depending on how you see it) is that all these clinical notions are based on our current understanding of science and may change as we learn more about the human body.
As you can see, a seemingly abstract and pointless discussion about when does a story begin led us to pondering on the definition of life. That is very often the way of philosophy, grabbing us when we least expect it. But true philosophical discussion is not made of dry old texts (or posts like this one), it’s made of active thought and discussion. So, more important than this rambling is: what do you think about all this? When does a story begin, when does life begin?
BEGINNINGS
JANUARY 2020
When does a book begin? Is it on the first page, on the cover? Is it when we start to read it, or when we buy it, or when we have the idea of buying it? Maybe, it’s when the author finishes it, or perhaps when they first have the idea of writing a book in the first place. When does a story begin?
Well, why do I care? This seems a bit silly. I read a book, I either liked or not, it doesn’t matter when I precisely define when the book started. But, like many things in philosophy, this question is a mere avatar of deeper problems. If we want to retell a historical event for instance, deciding where to begin may be a highly non-trivial matter. It can completely change the narrative we are constructing and lead the reader this or that way in interpreting the events. Relatedly, many countries have had referendums to decide when does a human life start. Whether we like it or not, these seemingly abstract discussions can have concrete consequences on or lives. Let’s indulge in this philosophical question. When does a story begin?
Well, a good way to start is to actually try to understand what is the thing that is actually beginning. What is the point. Do we want to talk about the story, or the physical book, or maybe of our experience of reading the book, or the whole circumstances behind the existence of said book. Understanding any of these remarks will directly lead to one of the options in the opening paragraph.
Let’s take a historical example, World War II. Usually we want to talk about the European conflict so we state 1939 with the German invasion of Poland. But if we want to talk about the conflict in a global sense perhaps 1931 with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria is more appropriate. Or maybe what we really want to talk about is the Nazi regime, then 1919 with the creation of the party, or 1933 with Hitler’s nomination to the office of chancellor sound like good options. Once more, defining what it is we are talking about clearly outlines where we should begin our tale. And also note, that starting from different points will completely shift the narrative, saying WWII starts in 1939 completely neglects a considerable portion of the conflict in China.
But there is a problem with this method. We may not know what exactly do we want to talk about. Perhaps we are trying to decide where the thing begins in order to figure out what is the essence of said thing. What do we do then? Well in that case we could try something slightly more indirect, we could try to understand when did it end. It may be just as hard to answer this second question, but sometimes it isn’t. Sometimes one looks back and says “clearly this is where this ended” and then we can try to figure out why is that true. This will then lead us to the one factor that was the essence and that, once gone, made the thing end. And then we can go back and figure out when did that factor first arise.
Now that we have thought a bit about this issue, let’s try to apply our newfound knowledge to a concrete case. When does a life begin?
First of all, a disclaimer. Even though it is a very important factor, the philosophical discussion of the beginning of a life is not the end of the story with regards to abortion. There are other factors both clinical and pragmatic that bring nuance to the discussion and may even cause a change of opinion. In this text we will only focus on the philosophical aspects of when a life begins, not on whether abortion should be legal or not, and much less in what terms could it be legal. Are you all comfortable with this fact? Then let’s carry on.
Defining when does a life begin is an incredible subtle question. Not the least due to our very limited understand of what constitutes life itself. Further, there are many seemingly suitable moments from conception to birth to choose from.
Let’s start with probably the widest notion of life possible. The existence of the concept of that person. Then life begins when the parents first have the idea to have a child and ends when the last person forgets said person. This notion is incredibly vague and not of much practical use, but it gets thrown about often so it’s worth mentioning.
Another very popular notion is based on religious/spiritual beliefs. It is then understood that life has some “divine” component (often called the “soul”) and so life begins when that component is bestowed upon that person. More often that not, that moment is conception, but the details will vary between different sets of beliefs and is therefore highly personal.
Finally there are the clinical notions of life. A very common one, but a bit old fashioned, is heartbeat. As long as your heart is beating you are alive. And there are other similar notions related to the functioning of the body as a whole, or with breathing. Although useful in practice, these correspond more to “symptoms” of life, rather than the essence of being alive. As in, they are good and useful criteria to tell if someone is actually alive, but they don’t really hit at the core of the problem. Is breathing or heartbeat the thing that makes of alive, or the fact that you are alive implies your heart must be beating and that you must be breathing?
Another criterion, also on the clinical side, that more closely goes at the essence of life is related to brain function. The idea here is to connect the notion of being alive to your brain being functional. This seems deeper because it’s in your brain that your personality is stored, as far as current scientific knowledge goes. It looks as if it’s that brain that makes you you. So that seems like a more direct concept. A potential criticism (or advantage depending on how you see it) is that all these clinical notions are based on our current understanding of science and may change as we learn more about the human body.
As you can see, a seemingly abstract and pointless discussion about when does a story begin led us to pondering on the definition of life. That is very often the way of philosophy, grabbing us when we least expect it. But true philosophical discussion is not made of dry old texts (or posts like this one), it’s made of active thought and discussion. So, more important than this rambling is: what do you think about all this? When does a story begin, when does life begin?