The Syllogism

Are you familiar with syllogisms? These are the logical constructions used for reasoning. The most common syllogism idea is the argument that if A is true, then B is true as well. A is true. Therefore, B is true. Here's the most common example you'll see:

Premise 1: All men are mortal.
Premise 2: Socrates was a man.
Conclusion: Socrates was mortal.

It is a logical process the result of which is not either true or false, but valid or invalid. That is, if it follows the rules of logic it is valid. Further, if the premises are true, then the argument is true because the logic is valid.

Here, let's try another. This is the basic, straightforward, rational argument of the pro-life crowd:

Premise 1: It is wrong to kill a human being without sufficient moral justification.
Premise 2: Human life begins at fertilization.
Conclusion: Killing an embryo or later is wrong.

If you examine the syllogism, you'll find that the argument is valid. The premises are properly constructed. The conclusion correctly follows the premises. This is a valid argument.

What, then, is wrong with the argument? How is it not true? Well, you'll have to demonstrate that the premises are faulty. Unfortunately, in that regard, Premise 2 is undeniable. No one in their right mind can deny that the human being begins as an embryo. Science is irrefutable here. The first stage of human life exists at the end of fertilization. From that point on human life is simply going through the various stages of human life without a clear demarcation of when one stage ends and another begins.

In order, then, to dismantle this argument, you're going to have to dismantle the first premise. It is not wrong to kill human beings. No, that's not good. Killing human beings for the well being of a mother is sufficient moral justification. Oh, but that would include infanticide, so that won't work. Oh, I know! A fetus is not a human being! But actually demonstrating in any substantive, measurable, or rationally supportable way the difference between a human being in the fetus stage as opposed to a human being in, say, an infant stage or even a teenage stage is impossible. There are differences, but differences that would classify one as "human" and the other as "not human" are not there.

The syllogism is valid. There are no logical fallacies in the structure. The premises are universally true. Thus, the conclusion is not only valid, but true. So why is it that the pro-life argument is considered irrelevant, emotional, religious, or a flight of fancy while the pro-abortion side is rational? Well, you can decide the answer to that one yourself.