Fertilized Eggs

Are fertilized human eggs equivalent to human beings? I say they are not.

Originally posted by 667joe
Are fertilized human eggs equivalent to human beings? I say they are not.

It depends how you define 'human being' and why. Scientifically speaking a fertilized egg probably is a human being. However it does not have consciousness.

Originally posted by 667joe
Are fertilized human eggs equivalent to human beings? I say they are not.

Every cell in our body has the information to rebuild an entire human being. Is every cell therefore equivalnet to a human being? No, I think not.
Is a fertilized egg an exception? No, it isn't.
Is an *un*fertilized egg an exception? No, it isn't.
Is a sperm an exception? No, it isn't.

Imagine you are in a lab and you are holding a tray of 100 fertilized human eggs. Let's further imagine that next to you there is a six year old girl. Suddenly a fire breaks out and you realize you could save the 100 fertilized eggs or the 6 year old girl but not both. Which would you save? If the 100 eggs are truly humans (and have souls as our fundamentalist friends would have us believe,) you would have to save the 100. All of us (I hope) would save the 6 year old.

Originally posted by 667joe
Imagine you are in a lab and you are holding a tray of 100 fertilized human eggs. Let's further imagine that next to you there is a six year old girl. Suddenly a fire breaks out and you realize you could save the 100 fertilized eggs or the 6 year old girl but not both. Which would you save? If the 100 eggs are truly humans (and have souls as our fundament ...[text shortened]... ave us believe,) you would have to save the 100. All of us (I hope) would save the 6 year old.

"All of us (I hope) would save the 6 year old." So do I.

Originally posted by 667joe
Imagine you are in a lab and you are holding a tray of 100 fertilized human eggs. Let's further imagine that next to you there is a six year old girl. Suddenly a fire breaks out and you realize you could save the 100 fertilized eggs or the 6 year old girl but not both. Which would you save? If the 100 eggs are truly humans (and have souls as our fundament ...[text shortened]... ave us believe,) you would have to save the 100. All of us (I hope) would save the 6 year old.

The 6 year old girl.
Now if the population was on the brink of extinction, you may have a bigger conundrum..

Originally posted by 667joe
Are fertilized human eggs equivalent to human beings? I say they are not.

I say they are not equivalent also. That is not to say one can do whatever they want with them, it's just that a fertilized egg has the potential to be a human being but is not one yet.

Originally posted by 667joe
Are fertilized human eggs equivalent to human beings? I say they are not.

That depends on what you mean by equivalent.

Originally posted by josephw
That depends on what you mean by equivalent.

Equivalent is pretty easy to define isn't it?
It essentially means 'the same as' or something like that.
Your question is typical of the obfuscation that arises when a tricky question is posed. It's pretty simple really - is a fully formed and developed human the same as a fertilised egg cell? Clearly they are not physical the same, so the essence of the question is in the moral treatment of these two distinct entities - should we treat them the same?

Originally posted by amannion
Equivalent is pretty easy to define isn't it?
It essentially means 'the same as' or something like that.
Your question is typical of the obfuscation that arises when a tricky question is posed. It's pretty simple really - is a fully formed and developed human the same as a fertilised egg cell? Clearly they are not physical the same, so the essence of the ...[text shortened]... on is in the moral treatment of these two distinct entities - should we treat them the same?

"My boss has really no experience at all, he is nothing more than a fertilized egg."
Does this sentence make sense?

Originally posted by FabianFnas
"My boss has really no experience at all, he is nothing more than a fertilized egg."
Does this sentence make sense?

No.

Originally posted by amannion
No.

Right, so there are no equivalence between a fertilized egg and a human being. They are different and so should they be treated.

(...even if my boss acts as an egghead doesn't mean that he actually is fertilized.)

Originally posted by 667joe
Imagine you are in a lab and you are holding a tray of 100 fertilized human eggs. Let's further imagine that next to you there is a six year old girl. Suddenly a fire breaks out and you realize you could save the 100 fertilized eggs or the 6 year old girl but not both. Which would you save? If the 100 eggs are truly humans (and have souls as our fundament ...[text shortened]... ave us believe,) you would have to save the 100. All of us (I hope) would save the 6 year old.

I disagree. First of all, what is a 'soul' and why is it worthy of being saved? What is a 'human' and why is it worthy of being saved?

Now suppose that you had a choice between 100 convicted murderers and a six year old girl. Would your choice of the six year old girl prove that the convicted murderers were not human?

Originally posted by FabianFnas
Right, so there are no equivalence between a fertilized egg and a human being. They are different and so should they be treated.

(...even if my boss acts as an egghead doesn't mean that he actually is fertilized.)

Did you actually read my post?
I said exactly this - there is nothing the same about a fertilised egg and a fully grown human.

Originally posted by amannion
Did you actually read my post?
I said exactly this - there is nothing the same about a fertilised egg and a fully grown human.

Meaning that I agree with you. You didn't mention my boss though...