Immortality, human nature, the value of life and the value of life extension

Bioethics

Volumn 20, Issue 6, 2006, Pages 279-292

  Horrobin, Steven ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Age retardation; Aging; Human nature; Immortality; Life extension; Value of life; Value of life extension

Indexed keywords

ABORTION; AGING; ETHICS; EUTHANASIA; HOMICIDE; LIFESPAN; MORTALITY; PERSONHOOD; QUALITY OF LIFE; RELIGION; REVIEW; SOCIAL ASPECT; SUICIDE;

EID: 33749515004     PISSN: 02699702     EISSN: 14678519     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8519.2006.00506.x     Document Type: Review

References (59)

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2. In the form of Jeanne Calment, (21/2/1875-8/4/1997).
3. e.g. A. Caplan. 2004. An Unnatural Process: Why It Is Not Inherently Wrong to Seek a Cure for Aging. In The Fountain of Youth: Cultural, Scientific, and Ethical Perspectives on a Biomedical Goal. S.G. Post & R.H. Binstock eds. Oxford University Press.
4. e.g. D. Gems. Is More Life Always Better? The new biology of aging and the meaning of life. Hastings Center Rep 2003; 33(4): 31-39.
5. S. Horrobin. 2005. The Ethics of Aging Intervention and Life-Extension. In Aging Interventions and Therapies. Rattan S Ed. World Scientific Publishing. Singapore: 1-27; Available at: http://www.worldscibooks.com/lifesci/etextboock/ 5690/5690_chap01.pdf [Accessed on 10 August 2006].
6. This is related to, but to be distinguished from the problem of identity and the rationality of prudential concern in radically extended lives, although the personhood as process view may have resonances in this area. See e.g. W. Glannon. Identity, Prudential Concern, and Extended Lives. Bioethics 2002; 16: 267-283;
7. J. Schloendorn. Making the Case for Human Life Extension: Personal Arguments. Bioethics 2006; 20: 191-202;
8. S. Horrobin. Bioethics Ibid.
9. e.g. D. Callahan & C.S. Campbell. eds. 1990. Theology, Religious Traditions, and Bioethics. Hastings Cent Rep 1990 Jul-Aug; 20(4): S1;
10. Joseph Cardinal Bernadin. 1988. Euthanasia: Ethical and Legal Challenge. Origins 18: 52-51;
11. L.R. Kass & N. Lund. 1996. Physician-assisted suicide, medical ethics, and the future of the medical profession. Duquesne Law Rev Fall; 35(1): 395-425.
12. e.g. J. Harris. 1985. The Value of Life: An Introduction to Medical Ethics. New York, NY: Routlege;
13. J. Glover. 1977. Causing Death and Saving Life. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Books.
14. e.g. L.R. Kass. 2002. Life, Liberty and the Defense of Dignity. San Fransisco, CA: Encounter Books;
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16. e.g. J. Harris. Immortal Ethics. Ann NY Acad Sci 2004; 1019: 527-534.
17. e.g. M. Sandel. 2002. What's Wrong with Enhancement. President's Council on Bioethics (PCBE). Available at: http://www.bioethics.gov/background/ sandelpaper.html [Accessed 10 August 2006].
18. S. Horrobin. The Value of Life and the Value of Life Extension. Ann NY Acad Sci 1067: 94-105.
19. H. Kuhse. 1987. The Sanctity-of-Life Doctrine in Medicine: A Critique. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
20. It is noteworthy that the retention of prerogatives by the 'giver' here already abstracts away from any ordinary definition of 'gift'. Furthermore, the idea that a basic predicate of existence may be 'given' to the one who then exists is philosophically dubious. If life is a gift, to whom is it a gift? How can my life be a gift, to me?
21. The idea that humans are made in the 'image' of God, and also that death through aging arises from Original Sin form part of this schema. Further, this nexus of ideas is what fundamentally motivates the conservative view that biological humanity is co-extensive with personhood, and thus moral respect.
22. D. Hume. 1978. On Suicide. In Ethical Issues In Death and Dying. T.L. Beauchamp & S. Perlin eds. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall: 105-110.
23. J.S. Mill. 1998. On Nature. In Three Essays on Religion: Nature, the Utility of Religion, Theism. New York, NY: Prometheus Books;
24. A. Millar. Following Nature. Philos Q, 1998: Vol. 38 Issue 151 (Apr): 165-185;
25. S. Horrobin, Philos Q, op. cit. note 5.
26. D. Hume, Philos Q, op. cit. note 16.
27. President's Council on Bioethics (PCBE) 2003: Beyond Therapy: Biotechnology and the Pursuit of Happiness: Ageless Bodies. Washinton, DC: PCBE. Available at: http://www.bioethics.gov/reports/beyondtherapy/chapter4.html [Accessed 10 August 2006].
28. The reason for the use of the present tense here will become clear later in the section.
29. L.R. Kass Ageless Bodies, Happy Souls: Biotechnology and the Pursuit of Perfection. New Atlantis. 2003 Spring; (1): 9-28.
30. Michael Sandel is a liberal philosopher, but his stance on this issue has been described by Charles Krauthammer, during the 12th Sept. 2002 PCBE discussion of this paper, as 'a fairly radically conservative position' to which Sandel himself replied that it is not a 'thoroughgoing' conservative position, but I agree with Krauthammer that it is conservative in spirit nonetheless. Available at: http://www.bioethics.gov/transcripts/dec02/session4.html [Accessed 9 August 2006].
31. M. Sandel, New Atlantis. op. cit. note 11.
32. L.R. Kass, New Atlantis. op. cit. note 21.
33. L.R. Kass, New Atlantis. op. cit. note 21.
34. L.R. Kass, New Atlantis. op. cit. note 21.
35. R. Dworkin. 1993. Life's Dominion. Hammersmith, London: HarperCollins.
36. G.D. Hartogh. The Values of Life. Bioethics 1997; 11(1): 43-66.
37. S. Jay Olshansky. On the biodemography of aging: a review essay. Popul Dev Rev 1998; 24: 381-393.
38. If no act/omission distinction is allowed, this appears rather like a slow form of suicide or, in the mode of Montaigne that Kass has often referred to, with decay of senescence as a kind of macabre palliative similar to torture prior to execution: a terrible, slow euthanasia.
39. PCBE Popul Dev Rev op. cit. note 19.
40. th Alcor Conference on Extreme Life Extension, 10 August 2006.
41. W. Haseltine. Science 22 December 2000; 290: 2249.
42. Immortality Institute, 2004. The Scientific Conquest of Death: Essays on Infinite Lifespans. Available at: http://www.imminst.org/SCOD.pdf [Accessed on 10 August 2006].
43. J. Harris, The Scientific Conquest of Death: Essays on Infinite Lifespans. op. cit. note 10.
44. G. Chaucer. Pardoner's Tale ll. 412-414 The translation to modern English is my own, and refers to no particular modern text.
45. J. Harris, Pardoner's Tale ll. op. cit. note 10.
46. L.R. Kass. L'Chaim and its Limits: Why Not Immortality? First Things 2001; 113: 17-24.
47. L. Gurarente. 2002. Ageless Quest: One Scientist's Search for Genes That Prolong Youth. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.
48. Or its equally dismal alternatives: 'cold' or 'crunch'!
49. I do not mean to suggest that this makes senescence inevitable. It just makes effort inevitable, and life unstable.
50. Arguments from potential make ultimate reference to subjective/ instrumental value, and so are not true representatives of the intrinsic value view.
51. S. Horrobin, Ageless Quest: One Scientist's Search for Genes That Prolong Youth. op. cit. note 12.
52. J.L. Mackie. 1990. Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong. London: Penguin.
53. This will not, of course, apply to naturalistic interpretations of objective value.
54. See also: S. Horrobin, Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong. op. cit. note 12.
55. S. Horrobin, Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong. op. cit. note 5.
56. B. Williams. 1973. The Makropulos Case: Reflections on the Tedium of Immortality. In Problems of the Self. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press especially 86 & 100;
57. see also S. Horrobin, In Problems of the Self. op. cit. note 5 for a critique of Williams' premise concerning boredom.
58. T. Nagel. 1970. Death. In Mortal Questions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 1-10.
59. H. Frankfurt. 1982. Freedom of the Will and the Concept of a Person. In Free Will. G. Watson Ed. Oxford Readings in Philosophy. Oxford University Press: 81-95.