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Hokkaido University Collection of Scholarly and Academic Papers >
Graduate School of Humanities and Human Sciences / Faculty of Humanities and Human Sciences >
Journal of Applied Ethics and Philosophy >
vol. 14 >
Some Perspectives on Moral Status of Human Brain Organoids : With Focus on Consciousness and the “We” as Humans
| Title: | Some Perspectives on Moral Status of Human Brain Organoids : With Focus on Consciousness and the “We” as Humans |
| Authors: | Yokoro, Yoshiyuki Browse this author |
| Keywords: | organoids | | moral status | | consciousness | | family membership | | speciesism |
| Issue Date: | Feb-2023 |
| Publisher: | 北海道大学大学院文学研究院応用倫理・応用哲学研究教育センター |
| Journal Title: | Journal of Applied Ethics and Philosophy |
| Volume: | 14 |
| Start Page: | 1 |
| End Page: | 13 |
| Abstract: | Human brain organoids are three-dimensional structures that reproduce the structure and function of the human brain in vitro . In this paper, I focus on the question of the moral status future human brain organoids will occupy. It is generally believed that the moral status a being occupies depend on sentience it possesses. However, in this paper, I argue that the presence or absence of a “consciousness” other than sentience may also have moral importance in the light of the features that seem to be unique to human brain organoids, and assert that a new perspective on whether human brain organoids belong to “we” or not may be necessary for thinking abstractly about how they should be treated morally. I argue that even if future human brain organoids lack sentience, they can occupy a moral status when they have so-called phenomenal or access consciousness. On the other hand, I argue that as long as future human brain organoids are as much a part of the “we” in terms of family membership as patients in a persistent vegetative state are. This would imply that even if human brain organoids do not have any kinds of consciousnesses, they may occupy some moral status. |
| Type: | bulletin (article) |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/2115/88783 |
| Appears in Collections: | Journal of Applied Ethics and Philosophy > vol. 14
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