A common-sense view of the foetus treats it as (a) an organism, and (b) comprised only of those parts that emerge as the ‘future baby’. In this paper I argue that, given an account of the organism as a metabolic whole, (a) and (b) can’t both be true. If the foetus is an organism, it shares many of the mother’s parts. On the assumption that a foetusisan organism, this suggests a new account of birth.
Joint Session 2020 - Ali Boyle (Cambridge/Bonn) - aliboyle.com
