Ethics of Increasing Human Lifespan

Soraj HongladaromCenter for Ethics of Science and Technology, Chulalongkorn University

What is the Problem?

Humans now have the capability to extend their lifespan dramatically.

What are the conceptual and ethical problems involved?

Perhaps a way to solve the problem is to look at human beings in a new way.

Aging, Death and Human Longevity

In this book, Christine Overall outlines two opposing positions—prolongevitism and apologism.

First view advocates extension of human life, while the other regards death as a natural course of things.

The issue is directly related to the age-old question of the meaning of life.

Overall believes that there is merit in extending lifespan, so long as there is quality in the extended life.

There does not seem to be anything wrong if life is extended this way.

She does not consider social considerations.

Overall presupposes that there is a continuation in life, such that what one is when one is 30 has, objectively speaking, something in common with what one is when one is 150.

But the problem is: What exactly is it?

Two Scenarios

Scenario 1: A person lives until the age of 200; she wants to live more and is searching for the technology to help that. As a result, the technology helps her to live until the age of 250.

Two Scenarios

Scenario 2: Another person lives until 90, dies. Another one is born, lives until 110, dies. Another one is born, lives until 50 years old and is still living.

Question -- What is the difference among the two scenarios?

Differences

The obvious difference is, of course, that it looks—on paper—that Sc. 1 is about only one person, and Sc. 2 is about three.

But is that really the case? What are the criteria by which one judges

a person or a human being to be one person (or one human)?

Proposal

The difference between the two scenarios are only apparent.

The reason why we find this to be rather hard to accept is that we are naturally inclined to regard bodily continuity as personal continuity.

But there is nothing in principle to guarantee that objectively.

Upshot Ethics of human life extension rests on a

metaphysical assumption that seems to disperse after close examination.

Instead of searching an elixir of life, one should instead search for ways so that our offsprings are well off and their environment suitable for human living. We pass on, and not hold things fast to ourselves.