Question

Evaluate the Strength/weakness of the following inductive argument. you must write your own argument here in support of your evaluation. should be in three to four paragraph That argument should make direct reference to the various rules that govern strength and weakness for each of the types of inductive arguments.

Imagine that you have been kidnapped by a strange cellist lover's cult. The world famous cellist Yo Yo Ma is suffering from a horrible kidney disease. You are the only person in the world with kidneys that are a match with Ma. So, the cultists snatch you up and basically plug Yo Yo Ma’s circulatory system into your kidneys, Yo Yo Ma has no idea that his is happening, he remains in a coma throughout this process. When you wake up, the doctor says to you: “I am sorry that this has happened to you. If we had known that you were an involuntary donor in these circumstances, we would never have hooked you up to Mr. Ma’s circulatory system. However, if you remain hooked up to Mr. Ma then in about nine months he will regain his health, and there is no appreciable threat to your health. If you disconnect yourself, then Mr. Ma will die.” Now, are you morally obliged to remain in the hospital for nine months? No. Since your being there is involuntary, then it is morally permissible for you to disconnect yourself from Yo Yo Ma, even though this means that he will die. This is exactly like aborting a pregnancy that was the result of a rape. Neither Yo Yo Ma nor the fetus is responsible for the position you are in, but neither are you since in both instances your participation was coerced. Hence, since it is morally permissible to unplug from Yo Yo Ma, it is permissible to have an abortion in the case of rape. (Adapted from JJ Thompson, “A Defense of Abortion.”)

Answer 1

Type of argument - analogy

Analogue - Yo Yo Ma with kidney disease is plugged to your body without your consent. Since it was involuntary, you can unplug.

Target- Aborting pregnancy, which was a result of rape.

Targeted characteristic - to abort in case of pregnancy due to rape, is morally permissible.

Evaluation - It is a strong argument. The strength of an analogy argument depends on the similarity of the compared variables. The example of being plugged to an ill person without your consent, is very much similar and relevant to cases where girls get pregnant due to rape. Rape is a forced sexual encounter and the resulting pregnancy was not her choice. The characteristics are relevant. Being plugged to someone for 9 months may have ill effects on the donor. Likewise, accepting the pregnancy would totally change the course of girl's life. It may badly affect her life goals. Just like the one who can unplug himself from the ill-person and it is morally permissable as he is not obliged to him, instead was involuntarily plugged, abortion is also morally permissible in cases where pregnancy was a result of rape. For the mentioned reasons, the argument is considered to be strong.