Friends of Albert Schweitzer (UK)

MJBT

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Abortion
14. Aug 2007 at 14:30

Abortion is of course a very controversial subject and therefore often avoided, however, it is important issue in any discussion about ethics. Considering this I would be interested to know if Albert Schweitzer wrote about this in any of his books or whether it was clear what his stance was on this subject.

I have read his book “The Philosophy of Civilization” and he doesn’t mention it there. I have not read any of his other work yet but I am very interested in the philosophy of “Reverence for Life” and am enjoying reading the other issues discussed in the forum.

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Scott

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Re: Abortion
Reply #1 - 17. Aug 2007 at 13:46

Haven't seen anything he's written on it either. I would suspect, given his personal philosophy on life, his knowledge of biology as a doctor, and as a Christian, that he would take it on a case by case basis. From what I've read on this forum and elsewhere, he was not a dogmatic person who passed harsh judgements on others. Generally, he would likely be seriously disappointed when it had to be done and it would be a very difficult decision for him. I think, however, he would treat it like any other dilemma, which is created by adhering to his personal creed of Reverence for Life. On another note, I think he would support stem-cell research, given the medical promise it holds. These are just my opinions, of course.

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percy

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Re: Abortion
Reply #2 - 17. Aug 2007 at 22:00

I haven't either, but at the next opportunity I will make enquiries amongst people who have read more of his writings than I have.
I don't know enough about the promise held out by stem-cell research to pass an opinion. Are you sufficiently au-fait with this, Scott, to explain it to us? I know though, that Schweitzer was not against medical research as such, - not even about animal experiments 'as such'. As you say, he took things on a case by case basis.
Percy

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David M

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Re: Abortion
Reply #3 - 11. Apr 2010 at 02:10

Scott wrote on 17. Aug 2007 at 13:46:

Haven't seen anything he's written on it either. I would suspect, given his personal philosophy on life, his knowledge of biology as a doctor, and as a Christian, that he would take it on a case by case basis. From what I've read on this forum and elsewhere, he was not a dogmatic person who passed harsh judgements on others. Generally, he would likely be seriously disappointed when it had to be done and it would be a very difficult decision for him. I think, however, he would treat it like any other dilemma, which is created by adhering to his personal creed of Reverence for Life. On another note, I think he would support stem-cell research, given the medical promise it holds. These are just my opinions, of course.

I suspect, to use your term, that as a Christian doctor of the 19th and 20th centuries he has so little to say about abortion because a) it was still illegal when he died, and b) it so perfectly goes against his most basic philosophy of interdependency that it never appeared on his radar.

I believe that Schweitzer would choke on his on tongue if he'd lived to see a state of affairs where a child that yawns, responds to voice, and can demonstrate emotion is removed from the womb at 20 weeks gestation. I think one would need copious quantities of chutzpah to argue a case for Albert Schweitzer treating abortion on a "case by case basis".

But this is, as I paraphrase you, just my opinion.

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