Is it possible to ethically engender posthuman persons?

Date:: Friday 10th - Saturday 11th January 2020
Time:: 9.30am-4.30pm
Venue:: The Senior Common Room, St Mary’s University

The Centre of Bioethics and Emerging Technologies at St Mary's University, Twickenham, celebrates its tenth anniversary in 2020 and it is delighted to host this conference in partnership with the Scottish Council for Human Bioethics.

With rapid advances in genomic editing and ongoing anticipation that Artificial Intelligence will equal or surpass human intelligence, there is a real need to consider the ethics of engendering posthuman persons and in particular what responsibilities we might have for and to them.

Programme

Friday 10th January 2020

9.30-10am: Introduction and Welcome
Dr Calum MacKellar and Dr Trevor Stammers

Chairperson of the Morning Session: Dr Calum MacKellar

10-10.45am: Talk 1 - The concept of a person including its history
Prof Dr Phil Michael Fuchs (Department of Practical Philosophy / Ethics, Catholic Private University Linz, AUSTRIA)
10.45-11.15am: Coffee
11.15am-12pm: Talk 2 - What it means to be human and a person in the light of the philosophy of the philosopher Charles Taylor
Mr Greg Parker Jr (Department of Theology, University of Edinburgh, UK)
12-12.45pm: Talk 3 - One of Us: Humans, Transhumans and Posthumans
Dr Richard Playford (Institute of Theology, St Mary’s University, Twickenham, London, UK)
12.45-1.45pm: Lunch

Chairperson of the Afternoon Session: Dr Trevor Stammers

1.45-2.30pm: Talk 4 - The science of bringing new kinds of persons into existence
Dr Chris Willmott (Department of Molecular & Cell Biology, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK)
2.30-3.15pm: Talk 5 - Virtue Ethics, Moral Enhancement and Posthumanism Mr Michael Wee (The Anscombe Bioethics Centre, Oxford, UK)
3.15-3.45pm: Coffee and Tea
3.45-4.30pm: Talk 6 - Herman Bavinck’s response to Friedrich Nietzsche on reproductive selection
Dr James Eglinton (Department of Theology, University of Edinburgh, UK)
4.30-5.15pm: Talk 7 - Body escapism: How does Heidegger's notion of engendering influence the ethics of creating new persons
Mr Matthew James (The Centre for Bioethics and Emerging Technologies, St Mary’s University, London, UK Institute of Theology, St Mary’s University, Twickenham, London, UK)

Saturday 11th January 2020

Chairperson of the Morning Session: Dr Gillian Wright

9.30-10.15am: Talk 8 - Deliver Us from Evil: Are post-human futures universally bright?
Dr Trevor Stammers (Director of the Centre for Bioethics and Emerging Technologies, St Mary’s University, Twickenham, London, UK. Institute of Theology, St Mary’s University, Twickenham, London, UK)
10.15-11am: Talk 9 - Being somebody - Towards a categorical imperative for the age of transhumanism
Mr Christian Hölzchen (Institut für Ethik, Universität Tübingen, GERMANY)
11-11.30am: Coffee
11.30am-12.15pm: Talk 10 - The impossibility of the posthuman person
Dr Ashley John Moyse (McDonald Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Life, Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Oxford, UK)
12.15-1.15pm: Lunch

Chairperson of the Afternoon Session: Mr. Matthew James

1.15-2pm: Talk 11 - Islamic perspectives on the ethics of bringing transhuman and posthuman persons into existence
Dr Mehrunisha Suleman (Centre for Islamic Studies, University of Cambridge, UK Member of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, London, UK)
2-2.45pm: Talk 12 - Is it Possible to Ethically Procreate Transhuman and Posthuman Persons?
Dr Calum MacKellar (Scottish Council on Human Bioethics, Edinburgh, UK. Centre for Bioethics and Emerging Technologies, St Mary’s University, London, UK)
2.45-3.15pm: Coffee and Tea
3.15-4pm: Talk 13 - The Existential and Personal Identity Risks of Posthuman Persons
Dr Gillian Wright (Scottish Council on Human Bioethics, Edinburgh, UK.)
4-4.30pm: Conclusion
Dr Calum MacKellar and Dr Trevor Stammers