blog.bioethics.net

Move over, Homo sapiens...

Traditionally, Western philosophy has assumed that humanity (i.e., a member of the sub-species Homo sapiens sapiens) is a necessary precondition to personhood. But a recent archeological discovery reported in Nature adds a new cousin to our family tree, dubbed Homo floresiensis. Described as "hobbit-like", the discovery has spawned speculation that similar species may still exist somewhere in the unexplored tropical forests of Indonesia.

Interestingly enough, the US Supreme Court does not require humanity for someone to be recognized as a "person" -- the Court has recognized corporations or even ships to be "person(s)." Which, when you think about it, maybe isn't such a bad thing -- we need to be prepared when technology (through transgenics and/or the melding of computers and bodies) creates other species, sapiens, homo, or otherwise, that are worthy of moral and legal status to expand our traditional notions of personhood.

The real question is, though, can we humbly acknowledge that granting other species moral respect and legal status does not necessarily diminish our place on this earth? Must we cling to our cherished belief that Homo sapiens sapiens is the perfect end result of evolution, or can we concede that our species can survive best as stewards of the earth and all of its species and as an integrated element of a global ecosystem? Move over, Homo sapiens sapiens... make room for new, and maybe-not-so-new-but-as-yet-undiscovered, kids on the block.

-- Linda Glenn