When Does A Fetus Possess A Human Soul/Consciousness And Become A Human Being?

Question

Can I get all the various perspectives (1) Religious/Philosophical (2) Biological/Medical/Ethical

Here's mine:

Sperm, eggs, zygotes are all human life, NOT human beings. Human life begins at conception but a "human being"- a fully formed person with a consciouness and autonomy only happens when:

1. The soul/consiousness/mind enters the body (religious/philosophical)

2. In order for something to possess that soul/consciousness/mind it must have a fully formed brain that can support the physical processes behind thought, personality, autonomy. It must also have a fully formed nervous system and body for that soul to interact with the surrounding world.

When a person cannot support brain function and basic life function, ethically/medically, they are not considered a human being but a corpse (whether kept on life support or not).

So both spiritually and ethically, a fetus becomes a human BEING when it can survive out of the womb (unplugged from the life support).

The earliest this has known to happen is very late in the second trimesteror in the third trimester.

Therefore, although unpleasant and not a personal choice I would make (I am a mother of three) I support the right of a woman to choose up till the fourth month (just to be sure). After that, you risk actually ending the life of a HUMAN BEING and not just ending human life that is not autonomous or has a consciousness.

What are your thoughts?

Respectful and insightful answers on the topic please. Points (1) and (2).

Toogether, please read my question CAREFULLY before you answer and do not answer on what you WANT to see.

I clearly said that sperm, eggs, zygotes ARE human life. They are not however, human BEINGS.

brainaash, a person can be ethically taken OFF life support. In fact, if you cannot afford the expenses, the hospital makes the decision for you and takes you off it.

Medically/ethically, if you have minimal to no brain function and cannot support your own life you are not a viable human being.

Answer 1

Everything happens at the moment of conseption. Once conceaved, human life begins.(no if, ands, or buts)

All life is precious in Gods eyes

Answer 2

1) I'm a Muslim.
2) In Islam we are taught that the fetus becomes a human when it gets the soul. We are also taught that ALLAH(SWT breathes the soul into the fetus at 4 months gestation in the mother's womb making it a human being. Before 4 months it is not human because it doesn't have a soul and therefore doesn't exist. We are taught that in Islam if it dies before it gets the soul at 4 months then it ceases to exist and doesn't go to Heaven or Hell. If it dies in the womb at 4 months or beyond or dies before the age of 10(age of accountablity in Islam) then it will go straight to Heaven because it has no ability to know right from wrong and is innocent of sins until 11 years old. It will not be asked anything on the Day of Resurrection.
3)About life support. Well I think that taking someone off life support is haraam but I'm not really sure about that. Because we are taught that only ALLAH(SWT) has the right to give life and take it away not humans. So we would be playing God if we took someone off life support. Plus there is always a chance that ALLAH(SWT) will cure the person who is in a coma or on life support and bring that person back to life.

Answer 3

I believe it's a human being from the get-go. My argument is simple: A human embryo has no hope of developing into anything other than a human being. There's absolutely no possibility of it ever becoming a, fish, dog, cow, frog, or anything else. From the moment that the sperm penetrates the egg, it is destined to be a human being, a person. This being the inevitable outcome, it is always a human being . Meg: Your very argument establishes life beginning at conception. I realize you say you're "fuzzy" but please review your words and be honest with yourself, they way you have been with us. That's quite an argument you make for life! SpiritRoaming: Ditto!!! Veritas is always on the mark. PeguinBackPacker: If you believe that every life counts, how can you believe that abortion is an option? Seriously. Your opinion contradicts itself. On the one hand, you believe many people are inhumane. On the other, you believe that a sickly or impoverished child is an inconvenience and should not be allowed to live the life that it never asked for but was given anyway. Going back to those you deem inhumane; who are these people exactly? Are these the same people that created life and then decided that it was an inconvenience so they destroy it?

Answer 4

Julian Jaynes, in the breakdown of the Bicameral Mind theorizes that the right side of the brain is the lighting rod to God or the seat of the soul . Since late trimester Fetus have brain activity in the hemispheric areas of the brain, including this area, it may be that they are accessing the soul. Also this is the point at which Fetus begin to dream (experience REM sleep). If one can dream then one probably has a consciousness and a soul. So my best eclectic estimate is the last trimester is when the soul/consciousness/mind enters the body.
for those that believe it is at conception, I ask....."Do you think that amoeba or reptiles have souls?

Answer 5

Jeremiah 1:5 (Amplified Bible):
Before I formed you in the womb I knew [and] approved of you [as My chosen instrument], and before you were born I separated and set you apart, consecrating you; [and] I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.

To me, this says that the soul was intended for that particular body before it was even formed. So that soul might not have been in that body right away, but the soul was ready for it. Also, why would you need a fully formed and functioning brain to have a soul? Who says the soul has anything to do with the brain at all? To follow your reasoning, a person who's on life support wouldn't have a soul, either; since people are sometimes on life support and then recover and come off of it, still in possession of their soul, that doesn't wash!

Answer 6

Because once the sperm and zygote join together, at that exact moment that "egg" has its very own DNA, therefore it is a completely unique individual human being. The DNA does not change at all from the moment of conception and this makes me want to say that even at the very moment of conception God recognizes this being as a complete and whole person. It says in the bible, that God knew us as we were being formed in our mother's womb.

Answer 7

The moment that sperm inters into a women, that male sperm begans to seek out that female egg. Don't think it is a thinking and knowing thing that moment, with a soul, a spirit, and mind. Don't you think it can hurt, if it is harmed in any way. It can be killed, if something is not alive, it can't be killed. If something is alive, it has to have that spirit of God to make it alive.

Answer 8

I more or less agree with you.

The possibility of life is very different than actual life. Possibilities are wonderful, but why should they be given precedence over the well-being (physical, emotional and otherwise) of the actual human bearing them?

But then, I don't believe in souls or an after-life.

Answer 9

I agree with you about the 16th week is when it is an acutal human being. In Islam you get your soul during the 40th day of being in the womb. So that would be around the 5th week? I agree with you.

Answer 10

so people on life support aren't humans? that is cracked


edit
as for when a human has a soul - that is pure conjecture and therefore not usable in an argument. We don't understand the nature of the soul, so how can we possibly say when a person does/does not have one?

Answer 11

I pretty much agree with you - you make some good points. I agree that a fetus that is unable to support it's own life is NOT a human being. I simply cannot fathom how people could feel otherwise - it just doesn't make sense to me.