Robert P. George - 04/14/08
Questions of whether human beings have spiritual souls needn’t be engaged in arguments about whether human embryos are human beings. And one need not appeal to any theology of ensoulment to assert that there is a rational basis for treating all human beings—including those at the embryonic stage—as creatures possessing intrinsic worth and dignity. Question of ensoulment and the eternal fate of human beings who die before birth are, to be sure, interesting theological questions, but they are irrelevant to the moral debate and the question of public policy. [2]
But is it not relevant in so far as the soul is the substantial form of the body? Now, do we have to determine whether human beings have a spiritual soul before we can argue that the 'right to life' is inviolable? Or, if human beings are no different from other animals, is it licit to kill them, just as it is licit to kill other animals (for the sake of food, etc.).
Embryo Ethics: On the Biological and Moral Status of Nascent Human Life (part 2)
Robert P. George - 04/15/08
