Abstract

What is the relationship between moral status and moral agency. A Kantian holds that agency is necessary and sufficient for having moral status. However, in the two Blade Runner movies, the opposite is suggested. Each film ends with a replicant performing an act of kindness towards Rick Dekard. Each time, the replicant is acting morally in a way that was thought impossible. This article argues that within the narrative world of the movies, this flips the relationship between moral status and moral agency: you achieve moral agency by having and exercising the capacity to grant moral status to others.