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U p a N o t c h
Elementary Logic and the Beginning of Life
By Patrick Beeman
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This Rock
Volume 18, Number 2
 February 2007 
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Embryo experimentation, in vitro fertilization, embryonic stem cell research, and similar issues confront people in their everyday lives as couples struggle with infertility and some biomedical scientists strive to propel us "forward." All these issues concern the question of life’s beginning. As Catholics called to build a culture of life, we must be prepared to delineate in a reasoned and concise manner the Church’s position on the status of the human zygote.
An explication of the Church’s position on the beginning of human life—as set forth in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s 1974 document Declaration on Procured Abortion —will prepare ordinary Catholics to defend the Church’s position.
A Means to an End
The CDF’s document states that the life of a fertilized ovum or zygote "would never be made human if it were not human already" (12). The Catholic Church takes the clear position that a fertilized egg does not become but already is a human being.
Sadly, though, in defending the position that it is never morally permissible to use a fertilized egg for experimentation, IVF, or non-therapeutic research, it is not enough to establish its humanity. We must also articulate why it is never morally permissible to treat a human being as a means to an end. Most people agree that it is never acceptable to harm some human beings for the good of other human beings, that it is never morally licit to treat human beings with contempt—that is, not in keeping with their dignity. We can draw on people’s innate moral sense and appeal to their consciences by showing them that, since both are human, harming a zygote is the moral equivalent of harming an adult.
We May Never Do Evil
Let’s take this a step further. What if it were absolutely certain that if you biopsied someone’s heart, knowing it would likely kill him, you could save the lives of a hundred other people? This person might be a cardiologist’s patient, a man with heart disease, but with a relatively good prognosis and the potential to live a number of years. But there are those hundred other patients who will certainly die if you do not biopsy this man’s heart. In a world where every person is treated as a potentially useful means to the good of others, not as an absolutely valuable end-in-himself, we would be morally obliged to take this man’s heart tissue, no matter what the cost to him.
Even in our world, where things are not so bleak, a utilitarian analysis of this scenario might conclude that it is acceptable to do the biopsy. Yet as human beings with consciences, we do not think it is right to take the life of one person to save the lives of others. It strikes us as cold and immoral. We think that every human being is a good in himself, not a means to the good of others. One of the most fundamental principles of morality tells us that we may never do evil that good may come of it.
Admittedly, this is a hypothetical scenario. But these and similar questions often arise in discussions of experimentation on human embryonic stem cells and related issues.
If one can establish the humanity of a zygote, then its humanity absolutely precludes its use in research and establishes that IVF is wrong because human beings should not be treated like products or property to be manipulated by technology, no matter what the potential gain may be. Why? Because we must always treat human beings in a manner consonant with their dignity, as difficult as that might be at times.
A Valid Argument
We began with the premise that if the zygote were not already human, then it would not become human. In logic, a good argument requires that the argument’s reasoning be valid; the conclusion must follow from the premises rather than just seem to do so. An argument with true premises will always yield a true conclusion. An example of an argument with good form is "If all A is B, and all B is C, then all A is C." The conclusion clearly follows from the premises. The argument built from the CDF’s document has the form called modus tollens, a classic type of valid argument. Any argument that can be put into the modus tollens form is valid. This form is:
If S, then P.
It is not the case that P.
Therefore, it is not the case that S.
Note that our argument’s first premise is expressed as a double negative: "If the zygote is not already human, then it would not become human." In our example, S is "the zygote is not already human" and P is "the zygote will not become human":
If the zygote is not already human, then the zygote will not become human.
It is not the case that the zygote will not become human.
Therefore, it is not the case that the zygote is not already human.
True Statements
Another requirement of a good argument is that all premises be true. This is the most difficult part of making an argument, as people often disagree about the truth of a given statement. If we decide that each of the premises is true, then we can be absolutely certain that the conclusion is true, since we know that the modus tollens form of arguing is valid—that is, if the premises are true, the conclusion is true.
The first premise states that if the zygote is not already human, then it will not become human. To determine the truth of this premise you must ask whether there is any case in which this could be false. Is there any case in which the zygote will become human when the zygote is not human already? In other words, can a human being grow from something that is not human? If you leave a sandwich on the counter for too long, will you one day find a baby in its place? The answer, of course, is no. There are no exceptions to the rule that a zygote will become a human being, just as a caterpillar will become a butterfly unless it is hindered from doing so. Moreover, there is no biological difference between a zygote formed from the in vitro fertilization of an ovum and a zygote formed naturally. No matter how it is formed, a zygote is the ovum of a woman fertilized by the sperm cell of a man. Their natures are the same, and they will both follow the same natural course under normal conditions.
The second premise states that it is not the case that the zygote does not become human. It is a truth of embryology, not an opinion, and it leads inevitably to the truth of the conclusion: The zygote is already human.
The nature of the zygote is to become a fully differentiated set of cells with specialized tissues and organic function. To do this requires only accidental changes in size, cell number, and cellular and tissue specialization. It will not become a piece of plastic or a stingray; it will only become an adult human being.
The Likeness of God
Because the zygote is a human being, we have to afford it the respect we afford any other human being simply because it is human. As Catholics, we know that all human beings are persons created in the image and likeness of God (Gen. 1:26–27). This demands of us that we treat all human beings with dignity. We are to care for all (including zygotic human beings) by providing them with adequate shelter and nutrition to the best of our ability. We are never to do to human beings—especially the most vulnerable, zygotic human beings and other pre-born life—anything that is contrary to their dignity as human persons, including using them as a means to scientific progress or for the happiness of other human persons. These grave duties are imposed on us because "man is the only creature on earth that God has willed for itself" (Gaudium et Spes 24).
We have seen how the CDF’s Declaration on Procured Abortion sheds light on how we ought to treat zygotes by showing us that zygotes are human beings just like any other man, woman, or child. Since we are never to harm human beings solely for the good of others, we can conclude that it is not morally acceptable to use zygotes as substrates for experimentation or to treat them in any other undignified manner.
With this knowledge, we can defend life in a reasoned and informed way. As Catholics, we know that our faith sheds light on reason. It is no surprise that the Church’s position on the status of human zygotes is, like God himself—as Pope Benedict XVI continually reminds us—ultimately reasonable and thereby worthy of understanding and defense.
Patrick Beeman was formerly a lecturer in philosophy at Cleveland State University. He is currently studying medicine at the University of Toledo College of Medicine. He lives with his wife, Christine, and daughter, Evangeline.
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