Firstly, would you consider it ethically acceptable to "produce" a Neanderthal purely for the scientific knowledge we might obtain about its anatomy, etc, even if it meant we had to keep it in a controlled and restricted environment all its life?
No I don't think producing sentient beings purely so that they can lead a lifetime of captivity and experimental research is morally justifiable. If we ever do this with regard to such a closely related being I hope that isn't what happens. But I think it is inevitable to some extent.
(We wouldn't know until we produced such a child how controlled and restricted its life would have to be, because we don't know enough about its natural behaviour and ability to cope with the modern world.)
We wouldn't for definite. But we might be able to get some idea of how likely certain physical problems are.
I don't believe most people would consider it acceptable to produce a HSS child deliberately purely for scientific research, such that it may have to be kept in a very restricted environment; so would it be acceptable to produce a Neanderthal child for the same purpose?
Knowing that this would be the case (or very likely be the case) would indeed pose deep moral questions. I am torn here. Reviving Neanderthals from extinction seems quite a morally noble thing to do in some sense and I have no doubt that we would be forced to learn a great deal about ourselves and what it means to be "human" if we did do this. The perceived seperation between us and other apes would seem that much less in my view.
But at the same time the first such "creation" would inevitably lead a freakshow life to some extent. Whether it be mad media interest or unrelenting scientific analysis. Is it fair to create an individual that would experience this? That would be the only one of it's kind in this way. Subjectively I would love to see the re-emergence of neanderthal man but the morality of subjecting individuals to this in practise is not a simple question and not one I think I have the answers to.
Edited by Straggler, : No reason given.
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