Re: Anti-cloning explained

From: Anders Sandberg (asa@nada.kth.se)
Date: Mon Aug 13 2001 - 03:14:28 MDT


On Sun, Aug 12, 2001 at 03:12:25PM -0700, J. R. Molloy wrote:
> British Chief Rabbi denounces cloning
> http://www.jpost.com/Editions/2001/08/12/LatestNews/LatestNews.32385.html
> "Moreover, he argued, the practice of cloning will challenge the defining
> belief of Western civilization: that each individual is unique and
> irreplaceable."
>
> So that's it! I had wondered why neo-Luddites oppose cloning with such
> vehemence. It "challenges" their petty ego-centric religiosity!

Note that the statement implies that individual uniqueness is dependent on
genetic uniqueness - the rabbi is implicitely supporting genetic
determinism. Which I guess wasn't his intention, but seems to be very
common among anti-cloning people (and the most enthusiastic pro-cloning
people too, unfortunately).

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Anders Sandberg                                      Towards Ascension!
asa@nada.kth.se                            http://www.nada.kth.se/~asa/
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