<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>All throughout history the unborn, and implicitly its protection, have been subject for academics and practitioners of various areas. The problem of the origin of the soul and the exact determination of the moment when it is united with the body was crucial in enabling us to define the exact moment when the human life begins, and, consequently, for providing proper protection for the unborn child. In this context visions of the Greek philosophers like Plato, Aristotle, Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas, and of the Latin writer Tertullian, as well as Christian perspectives were analysed in order to identify the starting point of the human being to help determine the level of protection provided for the unborn in history. Finally, considering the fact that not even today has consensus been achieved concerning the beginning of human life, it was and still is difficult to provide proper legal protection for the unborn child, but in our opinion this is by far not impossible.</p></abstract>

All throughout history the unborn, and implicitly its protection, have been subject for academics and practitioners of various areas. The problem of the origin of the soul and the exact determination of the moment when it is united with the body was crucial in enabling us to define the exact moment when the human life begins, and, consequently, for providing proper protection for the unborn child. In this context visions of the Greek philosophers like Plato, Aristotle, Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas, and of the Latin writer Tertullian, as well as Christian perspectives were analysed in order to identify the starting point of the human being to help determine the level of protection provided for the unborn in history. Finally, considering the fact that not even today has consensus been achieved concerning the beginning of human life, it was and still is difficult to provide proper legal protection for the unborn child, but in our opinion this is by far not impossible.

The unborn child: history, philosophy and religion

Journal of Legal Studies

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"article-title":"The unborn child: history, philosophy and religion"}

All throughout history the unborn, and implicitly its protection, have been subject for academics and practitioners of various areas. The problem of the origin...

The unborn child: history, philosophy and religion

Published Online: Feb 09, 2018

Page range: 73 - 84

Received: Nov 01, 2017

Accepted: Dec 01, 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/jles-2017-0018

Keywords
the unborn, terminology, history, philosophy, religion

© 2017 Maria Casandra Lucan, published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

The unborn child: history, philosophy and religion

Published Online: Feb 09, 2018

Page range: 73 - 84

Received: Nov 01, 2017

Accepted: Dec 01, 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/jles-2017-0018

Keywordsthe unborn, terminology, history, philosophy, religion

© 2017 Maria Casandra Lucan, published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
the unborn, terminology, history, philosophy, religion