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Crossing Species Boundaries

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Ethics and Emerging Technologies

Chapter Summary

In this chapter, Jason Robert and Francoise Baylis critically examine the morality of crossing species boundaries in the context of research that involves combining human and nonhuman animals at the genetic or cellular level. They begin by discussing the notion of species identity, with a focus on the presumed fixity of species boundaries, as well as the general biological and philosophical problem of defining species. Against this backdrop, they survey and criticize earlier efforts to justify a prohibition on crossing species boundaries in the creation of novel beings. They do not attempt to establish the immorality of crossing species boundaries, but do conclude with some thoughts about such crossings, alluding to the notion of moral confusion regarding social and ethical obligations to novel interspecies beings.

This chapter is excerpted from Jason Robert and Francoise Baylis (2003) ‘Crossing Species Boundaries,’ American Journal of Bioethics 3: 1–13. It appears here by permission of Taylor and Francis.

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Authors
  1. Jason Robert
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  2. Françoise Baylis
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Northeastern University, Boston, USA

    Ronald L. Sandler

Copyright information

© 2014 Jason Robert and Françoise Baylis

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Robert, J., Baylis, F. (2014). Crossing Species Boundaries. In: Sandler, R.L. (eds) Ethics and Emerging Technologies. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137349088_10

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