On the Authenticity of De-Extinct Organisms, and the Genesis Argument

Animal Studies Journal 6 (1):61-79 (2017)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

Are the methods of synthetic biology capable of recreating authentic living members of an extinct species? An analogy with the restoration of destroyed natural landscapes suggests not. The restored version of a natural landscape will typically lack much of the aesthetic value of the original landscape because of the different historical processes that created it—processes that involved human intentions and actions, rather than natural forces acting over millennia. By the same token, it would appear that synthetically recreated versions of extinct natural organisms will also be less aesthetically valuable than the originals; that they will be, in some strong sense, ‘inauthentic’, because of their peculiar history and mode of origin. I call this the ‘genesis argument’ against de-extinction. In this article I critically evaluate the genesis argument. I highlight an important disanalogy between living organisms and natural landscapes: viz., it is of the essence of the former, but not of the latter, to regularly reproduce and die. The process of iterated natural reproduction that sustains the continued existence of a species through time obviously does not undermine the authenticity of the species. I argue that the authenticity of a species will likewise be left intact by the kind of artificial copying of genes and traits that a de-extinction project entails. I conclude on this basis that the genesis argument is unsound.

Other Versions

No versions found

Links

PhilArchive

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Why Wake the Dead? Identity and De-extinction.Christopher Hunter Lean - 2020 - Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 33 (3):571-589.
Real or Fake? The Authenticity Question.Douglas Ian Campbell & Patrick Michael Whittle - 2017 - In Douglas Ian Campbell & Patrick Michael Whittle, Resurrecting Extinct Species: Ethics and Authenticity. London, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 49-86.
The restoration of species and natural environments.Alastair S. Gunn - 1991 - Environmental Ethics 13 (4):291-310.
Conservation in a Brave New World.Douglas Ian Campbell & Patrick Michael Whittle - 2017 - In Douglas Ian Campbell & Patrick Michael Whittle, Resurrecting Extinct Species: Ethics and Authenticity. London, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 1-28.
Resurrecting Extinct Species: Ethics and Authenticity.Douglas Ian Campbell & Patrick Michael Whittle - 2017 - London, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. Edited by Patrick Michael Whittle.

Analytics

Added to PP
2017-03-17

Downloads
550 (#56,674)

6 months
140 (#40,744)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Douglas Ian Campbell
University of Canterbury

Citations of this work

Why Wake the Dead? Identity and De-extinction.Christopher Hunter Lean - 2020 - Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 33 (3):571-589.

Add more citations

References found in this work

Faking nature.Robert Elliot - 1982 - Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy 25 (1):81 – 93.
The Ethics of De-Extinction.Shlomo Cohen - 2014 - NanoEthics 8 (2):165-178.
The restoration of species and natural environments.Alastair S. Gunn - 1991 - Environmental Ethics 13 (4):291-310.

Add more references