title: Fission, fusion, and the simple view.
abstract: In this essay, I defend three Simple Views concerning human beings. First, that the human embryo is, from the one-cell stage onwards, a single unitary organism. Second, that when an embryo twins, it ceases to exist and two new embryos come into existence. And third, that you and I are essentially human organisms. This cluster of views shows that it is not necessary to rely on co-location, or other obscure claims, in understanding human embryogenesis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Philosophy, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, USA.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tollefsen
mesh_terms: D033421:Beginning of Human Life / Q000941:ethics*; D002410:Catholicism; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian; D006801:Humans; D008678:Metaphysics; D028723:Personhood; D028725:Theology; D038522:Twinning, Monozygotic; D015053:Zygote