Full Idea
A prince may be a potential king, but he does not have the rights of a king. Why should a potential person have the rights of a person?
Gist of Idea
Why should a potential person have the rights of an actual person?
Source
Peter Singer (Practical Ethics [1979], 06)
Book Reference
Singer,Peter: 'Practical Ethics' [CUP 1989], p.120
A Reaction
But the prince is probably accorded special rights, merely on the grounds that he is the potential king. An unborn potential king is always considered as special.