When Did I Begin? Conception of the Human Individual in History,Philosophy and Science by Norman M. Ford,Cambridge & New York,Cambridge University Press.

Coughlan reviews Norman M. Ford's When Did I Begin? Conception of the Human Individual in History, Philosophy and Science (Cambridge University Press; 1988). Ford, master of a Catholic theological college, has written a critique of the view that the life of the human person begins at the fertilization of the ovum. He believes that "when does a human being begin?" is an ontological question, and that attainment of personhood is a fact which calls for appropriate moral and legal attitudes, rather than a product of moral or legal attitudes or conventions. Ford bases his arguments on a detailed analysis of both the biological facts and the significance of early human embryology. Coughlan, while taking issue with some of Ford's reasoning, praises the book for its spirit of honesty, its well-argued transitions, and its instructiveness in human embryology. Ford's response to Coughlan follows the review.