Zygote

[Wootah]

Every cell in my 47 year old body is doing its best to keep me alive and to divide and split and produce me. This happened from cell 1 to cell 37.2 trillion. All of them, following their programming and making me ongoingly across time.

How is the zygote of a human not a human again?

[Athetotheist]

Every cell in my 47 year old body is doing its best to keep me alive and to divide and split and produce me. This happened from cell 1 to cell 37.2 trillion. All of them, following their programming and making me ongoingly across time.

How is the zygote of a human not a human again?

If you lose five pounds and you're still here, who was that five pounds?

[Wootah]

[Replying to Athetotheist in post #2]

Not relevant and yeah I could stand to lose at least a trillion cells or so .

[Difflugia]

Not relevant

What do you mean, it's "not relevant?" Your argument is literally that your cells "following their programming and making" you is what makes them human. By your argument, liposuction is morally equivalent to an abortion. If you think that's wrong or absurd, that's a problem with your argument, not with the person pointing it out.

Nobody expects you to actually hold to such an absurd position, though, so it's OK if you want to refine it a bit. The problem with doing that is that nuance doesn't really lend itself to pretending that a binary absolute amounts to the moral high ground. You do have to choose, though, between moral ambiguity and absurdity. You can stick to absurdity if you're more comfortable with that, but we will judge you for it.

[Wootah]

[Replying to Difflugia in post #4]

My argument is that each cell of your body has one purpose - to be part of the continuing you over time. That process begins at inception.

Lipsouction doesn't kill you. Its not reductio ad absurdum its false equivalence.

Cells from zygote to me at 47 only ever function to propagate me across time.

[Difflugia]

My argument is that each cell of your body has one purpose - to be part of the continuing you over time. That process begins at inception.

Lipsouction doesn't kill you. Its not reductio ad absurdum its false equivalence.

It kills all of those cells and those cells are doing the same thing that zygote is doing. That's the equivalence that you defined. What is the death of "you?" The death of the last cell? That's why I asked you the question about HeLa that you ignored. Something else? You've hinted that there's some difference, but are trying to leave it to us to fill in your own blank.

You're the one claiming that there's some equivalence between the zygote and each individual cell of your body. If that's absurd, then I didn't make it absurd merely by noticing.

Cells from zygote to me at 47 only ever function to propagate me across time.

Yes and by the definitions you've thus far given us, the death of any individual cell is the moral equivalent of abortion. You don't seem to like that conclusion, but neither have you adjusted your definition.

[Wootah]

[Replying to Difflugia in post #6]

Well if at one point I am one cell then yes killing that one cell is killing me.

But my argument is: Cells from zygote to me at 47 only ever function to propagate me across time.

I wonder at what cell division or time period the first cell dies? That seems poignant.

There is a point where the removal of cells is catastrophic to the organism. That is not absurd.

[Athetotheist]

Every cell in my 47 year old body is doing its best to keep me alive and to divide and split and produce me. This happened from cell 1 to cell 37.2 trillion. All of them, following their programming and making me ongoingly across time.

How is the zygote of a human not a human again?

I think I may have brought this up before but here it is again since, though you haven't used the word, this is what I assume you're talking about:

[Wootah]

[Replying to Athetotheist in post #8]

John Oliver, Samantha Bee. Show mercy!

But can you debate please.

[Athetotheist]

[Replying to Athetotheist in post #8]

John Oliver, Samantha Bee. Show mercy!

But can you debate please.

If you can't refute the points they bring up, what further debating do I have to do?