Mary Anne Warren Quotes
Mary Anne Warren was an American moral philosopher long associated with San Francisco State University, whose work in applied ethics shaped the late-twentieth-century debates over abortion, animal rights, and the moral status of persons. Her 1973 essay On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion argued that personhood, not biological humanity, is the morally relevant category, and proposed five characteristics, including consciousness, reasoning, and self-awareness, by which moral personhood could be recognized. The quotes below are attributed to Mary Anne Warren, organized by topic.
Mary Anne Warren on Justice
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Attributed to Mary Anne Warren:
“There is no single criterion of moral status; there are several, and they apply by degree.”
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Attributed to Mary Anne Warren:
“The moral community is wider than the species; it extends as far as the relevant capacities reach.”
Mary Anne Warren on Virtue
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Attributed to Mary Anne Warren:
“What matters morally is personhood, not the bare fact of biological humanity.”
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Attributed to Mary Anne Warren:
“To be a person is to be a being with whom moral life can be shared.”
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Attributed to Mary Anne Warren:
“Applied ethics begins where general theory ends and concrete cases begin.”