ImmInst.org Forums: Immortal Ethics - Audio by John Harris - ImmInst.org Forums

Kevin Perrott was kind enough to upload the talks from the recent IABG Conference. One of which was the following by Prof. John Harris. This is a very good discussion of the philosophical justifications for immortality.

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Immortal Ethics
John Harris
School of Law, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL U.K.

This paper outlines the ethical issues involved in life extending therapies. The arguments against life extension are examined and found wanting. The consequences of life extension are explored and found challenging but not sufficiently daunting to warrant regulation or control. In short there is no doubt that immortality would be a mixed blessing, but we should be slow to reject cures for terrible diseases which may be an inextricable part of life extending procedures even if the price we have to pay for those cures is increasing life expectancy and even creating immortals. Better surely to accompany the scientific race to achieve immortality with commensurate work in ethics and social policy to ensure that we know how to cope with the transition to parallel populations of mortals and immortals as envisaged in mythology. As and when the numerical balance of these parallel populations seems set to shift dramatically towards significant and problematic numbers of immortals some hard decisions will have to be taken. Eventually if justice can be done, and if we resolve the issue of an appropriate balance between existing and new generations we will have also seen the emergence of a replacement species and will have passed from a world of mortals to, what would it be -- demi-gods?


Download Talk:
http://www.gen.cam.a...ppts/Harris.mp3

PDF Version

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About The Speaker:


Professor John Harris
Sir David Alliance Professor of Bioethics, University of Manchester

John Harris has made a special study of the ethical issues relating to genetics and to human reproduction. He is the author of one of the first book-length studies on the ethics of genetics (Wonderwoman & Superman) and is the author or editor of 14 other books and over 150 papers. He has been prominent in national debates on genetic manipulation, gene therapy, genetic testing and screening, the use of human tissue and the human tissue archive, privacy and confidentiality issues, embryo stem-cell research and therapy and human cloning.

He was a member of the Ethics Committee of the British Medical Association from 1991 to 1997, and again from 1999, and was one of the Founder Directors of the International Association of Bioethics. In 2001 Prof Harris was elected a fellow of the Academy of Medical Science and is the first philosopher to be honoured in this way.

http://www.hgc.gov.u...john_harris.htm