Transcript Slide 1
Kenn Brown art Transhumanism: Carpe Diem or Playing God? Morality in the news... Ann Coulter’s visit... http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/spurned-in-ottawaann-coulter-gets-a-big-welcome-from-calgary/article1511247/ The Harris Learning Library... The Epic of Gilgamesh dates from the 3rd millennium BCE and is one of the finest surviving epic poems in world literature. "I believe in transhumanism: ...once there are enough people who can truly say that, the human species will be on the threshold of a new kind of existence, as different from ours as ours is from that of Peking man. It will at last be consciously fulfilling its real destiny.“ Julian Huxley 1957 Singularity “Singularity... the point at which technological advancement will become so rapid that the possibilities will become endless...” Coming to a college near you... Rutger’s University (New Jersey) The course requires no science or technology background and is recommended for students with an art, humanities or business focus as well as anyone who anticipates working in a high technology or science-based industry or profession. Transhumanism and civil liberties... Technological self-determination Reproduction Cognition Gender re-assignment End of life technology Chimera In Mythology Parahuman... "human-animal hybrids" The Young Family 2002-3 Artist: Patricia Piccinini At Stanford University in California, experiments aim to create mice with human brains. Relationship between eugenics and transhumanism... Perfecting the human race Humanity as a work in progress Enlightenment thinking Evolution Deaf child? A moral choice? Designer Babies.... Designer Babies... Gattaca: Trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yr1IB9RVE_U&feature=related Gattaca: Anton’s birth: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ok3YjypQ-84 Designer Babies - Comments by Princeton professor Lee Silver http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TN9ep4B9Hw0 Designer babies CBS http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ixEDLa3Jlc&NR=1&feature=fvwp 60 minutes: Gender selection instead of disease eradication? http://www.fertility-docs.com/htmldocs/Video_60Min-B.html CSI New York: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kefoIXnLAN0&NR=1&feature=fvwp Ethics and embryology – should deaf parents be allowed to choose a deaf child? So, riddle me this: a deaf couple want a second child, and because of the woman’s age they’ll probably need to use invitro fertilisation techniques. No problem so far … until you find that the parents want to be able to select for a deaf child, and the UK government’s recent embryology bill will not allow them to do so. This is a textbook ethical dilemma, but it’s the sort of thing that advances in reproductive technology and genetic engineering are going to make more commonplace. I find myself (unusually) wanting to side with the government on this one – but then I’m not a parent, and I imagine that changes your perspective quite severely. I’ve sat here at the keyboard for about half an hour trying to formulate an argument for either side, but I can’t find anywhere I’m entirely comfortable – what do you think? Transhumanists vs. Bioconservatives Carpe Diem or Playing God? James Rachels (1941-2003) Exam advice… Review chapters 6 through 13. (No direct questions about the first five chapters, although that knowledge might help you answer the essay questions more effectively.) Review lectures 10 to 24. (the second term plus the lecture introducing Utilitarianism from the first term) By way of review: Moral theories • • • • • • • • • • • Moral Skepticism Moral Absolutism Virtue Theory Divine Command Natural Law Social Contract Utilitarianism Deontology Ethical Egoism Ethics of Care Virtue Theory (Protagoras) (Plato) (Aristotle) (St. Augustine) (St. Thomas) (Hobbes) (Bentham and Mill) (Kant) (Ayn Rand) (Gilligan responding to Kohlberg) (Elizabeth Anscombe) Review the readings... The ones we took up in class are the most important.... The Singer solution to world poverty Omelas Tuskegee Sherrice Iverson The experience machine Etc. Review the PowerPoints... They don’t outline the lecture... They illustrate what is illustratable... Note the quotations... Note the approximate timeframe... Note the publications... Jean-Paul Sartre Freedom and morality… We are condemned to be free. Existence precedes essence. There is not a single one of our acts which does not at the same time create an image of man as we think he ought to be. To choose to be this or that is to affirm at the same time the value of what we choose. Viktor Frankl “No matter what the circumstances we find ourselves, we always retain the last of human freedoms – the ability to choose one’s attitude in a given set of circumstances.”