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Synthetic Life and the Value of Life

Persson, Erik LU orcid (2021) In Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology 9.
Abstract

If humans eventually attain the ability to create new life forms, how will it affect the value of life? This is one of several questions that can be sources of concern when discussing synthetic life, but is the concern justified? In an attempt to answer this question, I have analyzed some possible reasons why an ability to create synthetic life would threaten the value of life in general (that is, not just of the synthetic creations), to see if they really give us reason to worry. The main conclusion is that it is unlikely that a future human ability to create life will really have a great negative impact on these characteristics of life. It therefore seems unlikely that the value of life will be negatively affected by the ability to... (More)

If humans eventually attain the ability to create new life forms, how will it affect the value of life? This is one of several questions that can be sources of concern when discussing synthetic life, but is the concern justified? In an attempt to answer this question, I have analyzed some possible reasons why an ability to create synthetic life would threaten the value of life in general (that is, not just of the synthetic creations), to see if they really give us reason to worry. The main conclusion is that it is unlikely that a future human ability to create life will really have a great negative impact on these characteristics of life. It therefore seems unlikely that the value of life will be negatively affected by the ability to create synthetic life, though it is possible that the properties in question will be less salient in the synthetic life and thus that the value of the synthetic life will be lower than that of existing life, which in turn can lead to a disturbing difference in value between different kinds of life.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
autonomy, end value, mystery of life, naturalness, origin of life, originality, synthetic life, value
in
Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology
volume
9
article number
701942
publisher
Frontiers Media S. A.
external identifiers
  • pmid:34222221
  • scopus:85109022325
ISSN
2296-4185
DOI
10.3389/fbioe.2021.701942
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Funding Information: This work was funded by the Pufendorf Institute for Advanced Studies, Lund University. Publisher Copyright: © Copyright © 2021 Persson. Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
id
224c52fc-2e65-496a-832a-10e0f704d5a6
date added to LUP
2021-08-16 14:48:08
date last changed
2024-06-15 14:30:46
@article{224c52fc-2e65-496a-832a-10e0f704d5a6,
  abstract     = {{<p>If humans eventually attain the ability to create new life forms, how will it affect the value of life? This is one of several questions that can be sources of concern when discussing synthetic life, but is the concern justified? In an attempt to answer this question, I have analyzed some possible reasons why an ability to create synthetic life would threaten the value of life in general (that is, not just of the synthetic creations), to see if they really give us reason to worry. The main conclusion is that it is unlikely that a future human ability to create life will really have a great negative impact on these characteristics of life. It therefore seems unlikely that the value of life will be negatively affected by the ability to create synthetic life, though it is possible that the properties in question will be less salient in the synthetic life and thus that the value of the synthetic life will be lower than that of existing life, which in turn can lead to a disturbing difference in value between different kinds of life.</p>}},
  author       = {{Persson, Erik}},
  issn         = {{2296-4185}},
  keywords     = {{autonomy; end value; mystery of life; naturalness; origin of life; originality; synthetic life; value}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Frontiers Media S. A.}},
  series       = {{Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology}},
  title        = {{Synthetic Life and the Value of Life}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fbioe.2021.701942}},
  doi          = {{10.3389/fbioe.2021.701942}},
  volume       = {{9}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}