Diacritica 25-2_Filosofia.indb - cehum - Universidade do Minho

28
BERIL SÖZMEN IDEMEN
choices that others make. As Slote points out, approaching someone with
empathic care involves taking care not to impose one’s own views on what
the good life is. One may be persuaded, as for example Hursthouse seems
to be, that there is something intrinsically valuable both in coming to the
world as well as choosing pregnancy and parenthood. It would be a failing
in empathy however if one would disregard the fact that the potential
mother/father of the child one wishes for is consistently and expressively
against having one. Slote’s brand of empathy does not content itself with the
recommendation to take the point of view of the other. Th is would be a psychologically
broader and more promising method of taking into account
what the interests of those involved are and as such would collapse into
fi ner versions of consequentialism. Like preference utilitarianism, Slote’s
version of care ethics respects the autonomous life choices of other individuals
but it goes beyond respect and takes the relationships of the people
concerned into account.
A woman who tricks or pressures a man into having a child with her
fails to approach the man with empathic care and thereby fails morally. Th is
case could be regarded as the clearest case of moral failing on the prospective
mother’s side. Th e variety of relationships between men and women
is great however and the moral evaluation of the parties depends on both
how the unintended pregnancy came about and on the reasons that the
prospective parents have for wanting to terminate or continue it. Diff erent
relationships between man and woman provide diff erent scenarios: Both
parties might initially be against having a child or the woman might want
one while the man is against it. A woman who thought she was against having
a child can change her mind once she is pregnant. She might resist the
idea of an abortion because she is against abortion on principle or because
of qualms she has about killing a foetus in her own womb. She might also
get used to the idea of becoming a mother and realise that she would prefer
it aft er all. A man who objects to becoming a father might be aware that
the woman is pregnant with his child or he might be unaware of it. He
might not be in the position to be ever informed of the fact, as for instance
would be the case if the pregnancy resulted from a one-night stand between
two strangers who are unable to contact each other again. Th e type of relationship
is morally relevant since diff erent ‘feats’ of empathy can rightly be
expected in diff erent cases. While it should be clear that a woman may not
have a child unless the man consents to it there may be cases, in which the
man shows a culpable lack of empathy towards the woman whom he urges
to have an abortion. Such an example might be a case in which a woman
Diacritica 25-2_Filosofia.indb 28 05-01-2012 09:38:19