tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9661811.post112296954281044312..comments2024-02-18T12:18:45.788-05:00Comments on Sun and Shield: When Did I Begin?Martin LaBarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629053725732957599noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9661811.post-1123117988726394042005-08-03T21:13:00.000-04:002005-08-03T21:13:00.000-04:00Bonnie's comment deserves a serious, and probably ...Bonnie's comment deserves a serious, and probably lengthy, answer, and I may not have the opportunity to give such any time soon, as we plan to travel extensively in the near future. The issue isn't going away, though. I plan to post on this issue again, and, more or less, respond to her comment, and any more I may get to this post, in another post, rather than an extensive comment.Martin LaBarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14629053725732957599noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9661811.post-1123041365905978262005-08-02T23:56:00.000-04:002005-08-02T23:56:00.000-04:00Wow. Very interesting, Martin, thanks for posting...Wow. Very interesting, Martin, thanks for posting this. <BR/><BR/>It seems that Ford's whole argument is based on differentiation, or lack thereof. <BR/><BR/>I've never considered the fact that the precursors of both the embryo and placental material are present in the zygote to be relevant to the question of when a human life begins, nor have I considered the ontology of the twinning process to be relevant either. I still see the differentiation process as irrelevant to when life begins.<BR/> <BR/>Before embryonic/placental differentiation has occurred, the cells that will become the baby are still <I>there</I>. Even if the differentiation that will reveal twins doesn't occur before a certain number of days has passed, the cells that will so differentiate (euphemistically referred to as "potential") are still there. They are still part of the developmental continuum. I wouldn't think that they change ontologically any more than any future differentiation changes the ontology of the developing human individual.<BR/><BR/>Unless I'm missing something?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13441809988487585009noreply@blogger.com