Convergences and divergences

The purpose of this book is, largely, two-fold. First, we wanted to present to the reader the respective reasons we are either pro-life (Mulder) or pro-choice (Manninen), and also, we responded to each other’s arguments and concerns. In doing so, we hope to have exemplified the principle John Stuart Mill invokes when he writes: The only way in which a human being can make some approach to knowing the whole of a subject is by hearing what can be said about it by persons of every variety of opinion, and studying all modes in which it can be looked at by every character of mind. No wise man ever acquired his wisdom in any mode but this; nor is it in the nature of human intellect to become wise in any other manner. 1 Indeed, we both think that the best way to learn about the strength of your own views and your own convictions is to patiently examine those views from a variety of perspectives, including those with which one disagrees. Mill notes that until we do this, until we submit even our most cherished views to critical scrutiny, “we do not understand the grounds of our opinions.”