Customer Reviews

Who Count as Persons?: Human Identity and the Ethics of Killing (Moral Traditions series)

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This compact volume is a substantial contribution to our understanding of our common humanity, shared with all persons, especially those on the margins "of society, of economy, of health," and, I might add, of attention. John Kavanaugh has forged a consistent ethic of life that calls all killing into question, out of respect, reverence rather, for our wounded humanity, whether we are unborn, despairing, calculating of "worth," or legally condemned to death. Particularly noteworthy is Kavanaugh's analysis of our soulless consumer mentality that has degraded our humanity to a mere commodity manipulated by market forces. The price is outrageous (Georgetown prefers to supplement basketball rather than philosophy, I guess!), but you will certainly want to share this good news with your fellow human persons.

Kavanaugh is a fine writer and thinker who, regrettably, begins from the premise that it is always morally wrong to intentionally kill another. Without exception. He even anticipates an "attack on the infrastructure of New York" by terrorists and argues that it would be wrong to kill them in order to protect innocent citizens. There is more than a little of false moral symmetry here, such as, "After all, would we allow an Iraqi-controlled United Nations to inspect our munitions and bases?" Yet Who Count as Persons? is much more than a pacifist tract. It is a convincing argument for the intrinsic value of every human life and for the idea of the dignity of the person, severely marred by pacifist abstraction from the frequently sad duties of protecting lives. From a First THings REview