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The Christian Hypothesis

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Persons, Moral Worth, and Embryos

Part of the book series: Philosophy and Medicine ((CSBE,volume 111))

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Abstract

A Catholic approach to the abortion debates requires a certain paradoxical attitude that is challenging to maintain. On the one hand, revelation anchors us in a certainty about the sanctity of human life, about which compromise, relativization, or concession is impossible. On the other hand, Catholic anthropology says that even a person holding the diametrically opposite view on this question does not do so because he deliberately chooses something he considers evil. The doctrine of the Fall combines a sternly realistic recognition of sin with an amazingly optimistic anthropology. It does not say our appetites have been so perverted as to desire evil instead of good; it says we confuse a perfective good with an apparent good.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Theology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA

    David W. Fagerberg

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  1. David W. Fagerberg
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Correspondence to David W. Fagerberg .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. National Catholic Bioethics Center, 6399 Drexel Rd, Philadelphia, 19151, USA

    Stephen Napier

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Fagerberg, D.W. (2011). The Christian Hypothesis. In: Napier, S. (eds) Persons, Moral Worth, and Embryos. Philosophy and Medicine(), vol 111. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1602-5_8

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