Abstract
Cloning is a typical form of human engineering, which is almost universally outlawed because of ethical objections. But are these objections valid, or are they overly influenced by fictional horror stories? In order to investigate whether clones necessarily lead instrumental lives, have a ‘closed future’, or lack an identity because they are ‘someone else’, this chapter discusses fictional accounts of clones. Literary fiction provides a rich picture of clones’ lives, demonstrating that clones do not necessarily have to evoke distrust or horror. The mirror that clone fiction holds up to us shows us possible worlds in which a ban on reproductive cloning is not essential to preserve human dignity. Clones may be copies, but they are also unique and original individuals. If we are afraid of cloning, this is not because clones are different or scary but only because society may treat clones inhumanly.
Translated by Mathilde van Heereveld and Berdien Ritzema.
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Koops, BJ. (2013). A Unique Copy: The Life and Identity of Clones in Literary Fiction. In: Koops, B., Lüthy, C., Nelis, A., Sieburgh, C., Jansen, J., Schmid, M. (eds) Engineering the Human. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-35096-2_10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-35096-2_10
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