Abortion and Imminent Personhood. 2025

Joel Cox
Department of Healthcare Ethics, Department of Philosophy, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.

Few debates conjure the angst, emotion, and conviction of the debate surrounding abortion and for good reason. The debate brings to the forefront multiple competing goods, including autonomy and respect for life, while affecting individual lives, the law, and politics in complex ways. Within this discussion, one of the preeminent issues is the status of the fetus: Is the fetus an actualized person or merely a potential person? While this question appears to lie at the heart of the conversation, it is based on a misguided view about the nature of the fetus. In this paper, I attempt to clarify the status of the fetus to hopefully re-situate this debate in a more helpful place. I am arguing that a fetus is an imminent person rather than a potential person and that imminent entities have a special moral standing greater than that of potential entities. To make this argument, I first provide background on different views about the metaphysical and moral status of fetuses to provide context for the view that I espouse. Then, I define and argue for the concept of imminence, explaining how it is different from potentiality and grants a greater moral standing to fetuses. Finally, I respond to objections, including arguments concerning whether imminence is a stage of existence, whether the fetus can be both an imminent and a potential person, and whether the personhood of the fetus matters to the debate around abortion.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries

Related Publications

Joel Cox
April 1973, Medizinische Klinik,
Joel Cox
January 1983, The annual of the Society of Christian Ethics. Society of Christian Ethics (U.S.),
Joel Cox
September 1985, International philosophical quarterly : IPQ,
Joel Cox
February 1961, Zentralblatt fur Gynakologie,
Joel Cox
January 1982, America,
Joel Cox
October 1981, The Monist,
Joel Cox
June 1990, Texas law review,
Joel Cox
March 1951, Wiener klinische Wochenschrift,
Joel Cox
January 1979, Duodecim; laaketieteellinen aikakauskirja,
Copied contents to your clipboard!