Eradication of suffering: Difference between revisions
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[[Nick Bostrom]], director of the [[Future of Humanity Institute]], advises a more cautious approach due to pain's function in protecting individuals from harm. However, Bostrom supports the core idea of using biotechnology to get rid of "a huge amount of unnecessary and undeserved suffering."<ref name="Power 2006"></ref> |
[[Nick Bostrom]], director of the [[Future of Humanity Institute]], advises a more cautious approach due to pain's function in protecting individuals from harm. However, Bostrom supports the core idea of using biotechnology to get rid of "a huge amount of unnecessary and undeserved suffering."<ref name="Power 2006"></ref> |
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==Animal |
==Animal welfare== |
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In 2009, Adam Shriver suggested replacing animals in [[intensive animal farming|factory farming]] with genetically engineered animals with a reduced or absent capacity to suffer and feel pain.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Shriver |first1=Adam |title=Knocking Out Pain in Livestock: Can Technology Succeed Where Morality has Stalled? |journal=Neuroethics |date=2009 |volume=2 |issue=3 |pages=115–124 |doi=10.1007/s12152-009-9048-6 |url=https://philarchive.org/archive/SHRKOP}}</ref> Shriver and McConnachie argued that people who wish to improve [[animal welfare]] should support gene editing in addition to [[plant-based diet|plant-based diets]] and [[cultured meat]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Shriver |first1=Adam |last2=McConnachie |first2=Emilie |title=Genetically Modifying Livestock for Improved Welfare: A Path Forward |journal=Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics |date=2018 |volume=31 |issue=2 |pages=161–180 |doi=10.1007/s10806-018-9719-6 |url=https://philpapers.org/archive/SHRGML}}</ref> |
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| ⚫ | Katrien Devolder and Matthias Eggel proposed gene editing [[animal testing|research animals]] to remove pain and suffering. This would be an intermediate step towards eventually stopping all experimentation on animals.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Devolder |first1=Katrien |last2=Eggel |first2=Matthias |title=No Pain, No Gain? In Defence of Genetically Disenhancing (Most) Research Animals |journal=Animals |date=2019 |volume=9 |issue=4 |page=154 |doi=10.3390/ani9040154 |pmc=6523187 |pmid=30970545 |url=https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/9/4/154/htm}}</ref> |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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Revision as of 04:42, 1 June 2020
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The eradication or abolition of suffering is the concept of using biotechnology to create a permanent absence of pain and suffering in all sentient beings.
Biology and medicine
The discovery of modern anesthesia in the 19th century was an early breakthrough in the elimination of pain during surgery, but acceptance was not universal. Some medical practitioners at the time believed that anesthesia was an artificial and harmful intervention in the body's natural response to injury.[1] Opposition to anesthesia has since dissipated, however the prospect of eradicating pain raises similar concerns about interfering with life's natural functions.[2]
People who are naturally incapable of feeling pain or unpleasant sensations due to rare conditions like pain asymbolia or congenital insensitivity to pain have been studied to discover the biological and genetic reasons for their pain-free lives. For example, a Scottish woman with a previously unreported genetic mutation (dubbed FAAH-OUT) in her FAAH gene with resultant elevated anandamide levels was reported in 2019 to be immune to anxiety, unable to experience fear, and insensitive to pain. The frequent burns and cuts she had due to her hypoalgesia healed quicker than average.[3][4][5]
In 1990, Medical Hypotheses published an article by L. S. Mancini on the "genetic engineering of a world without pain":[6]
A hypothesis is presented to the effect that everything adaptive which is achievable with a mind capable of experiencing varying degrees of both pleasure and pain (the human condition as we know it) could be achieved with a mind capable of experiencing only varying degrees of pleasure.
The development of gene editing techniques like CRISPR has raised the prospect of editing "pain genes" for temporary or permanent pain relief:[7]
...by mining genetic oddities, scientists can identify the causes of certain unusual people’s physical superpowers and use gene editing to grant them to others.
Ethics and philosophy
Ethicists and philosophers in the schools of hedonism and utilitarianism, especially negative utilitarianism, have debated the merits of eradicating suffering.[8]
Transhumanist philosopher David Pearce, in The Hedonistic Imperative (1995),[9] argues that the abolition of suffering is both technically feasible and an issue of moral urgency:
It is predicted that the world's last unpleasant experience will be a precisely dateable event.
Nick Bostrom, director of the Future of Humanity Institute, advises a more cautious approach due to pain's function in protecting individuals from harm. However, Bostrom supports the core idea of using biotechnology to get rid of "a huge amount of unnecessary and undeserved suffering."[8]
Animal welfare
In 2009, Adam Shriver suggested replacing animals in factory farming with genetically engineered animals with a reduced or absent capacity to suffer and feel pain.[10] Shriver and McConnachie argued that people who wish to improve animal welfare should support gene editing in addition to plant-based diets and cultured meat.[11]
Katrien Devolder and Matthias Eggel proposed gene editing research animals to remove pain and suffering. This would be an intermediate step towards eventually stopping all experimentation on animals.[12]
See also
References
- ^ Meyer, Rachel; Desai, Sukumar P. (October 2015). "Accepting pain over comfort: resistance to the use of anesthesia in the mid-19th century". Journal of Anesthesia History. 1 (4): 115–121. doi:10.1016/j.janh.2015.07.027. PMID 26828088.
- ^ Hildebrandt, Eleanor (2020-05-19). "Scientists may soon be able to turn off pain with gene editing: should they?". Leapsmag. Leaps by Bayer.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Murphy, Heather (2019-03-28). "At 71, She's Never Felt Pain or Anxiety. Now Scientists Know Why". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-05-27.
- ^ Habib, Abdella M.; Okorokov, Andrei L.; Hill, Matthew N.; Bras, Jose T.; Lee, Man-Cheung; Li, Shengnan; Gossage, Samuel J.; van Drimmelen, Marie; Morena, Maria; Houlden, Henry; Ramirez, Juan D. (August 2019). "Microdeletion in a FAAH pseudogene identified in a patient with high anandamide concentrations and pain insensitivity". British Journal of Anaesthesia. 123 (2): e249–e253. doi:10.1016/j.bja.2019.02.019. PMC 6676009. PMID 30929760.
- ^ Sample, Ian (2019-03-28). "Scientists find genetic mutation that makes woman feel no pain". The Guardian. Retrieved 2020-05-30.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Mancini, L. S. (1990). "Riley-Day Syndrome, brain stimulation and the genetic engineering of a world without pain". Medical Hypotheses. 31 (3): 201–207. doi:10.1016/0306-9877(90)90093-t. PMID 2189064.
- ^ Regalado, Antonio (22 August 2019). "The next trick for CRISPR is gene-editing pain away". MIT Technology Review.
- ^ a b Power, Katherine (July–August 2006). "The End of Suffering". Philosophy Now (56).
- ^ Pearce, David (1995). "The Hedonistic Imperative". HEDWEB.
- ^ Shriver, Adam (2009). "Knocking Out Pain in Livestock: Can Technology Succeed Where Morality has Stalled?". Neuroethics. 2 (3): 115–124. doi:10.1007/s12152-009-9048-6.
- ^ Shriver, Adam; McConnachie, Emilie (2018). "Genetically Modifying Livestock for Improved Welfare: A Path Forward". Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics. 31 (2): 161–180. doi:10.1007/s10806-018-9719-6.
- ^ Devolder, Katrien; Eggel, Matthias (2019). "No Pain, No Gain? In Defence of Genetically Disenhancing (Most) Research Animals". Animals. 9 (4): 154. doi:10.3390/ani9040154. PMC 6523187. PMID 30970545.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link)
Further reading
- Levy, Ariel (13 January 2020). "A world without pain". The New Yorker.
- Pearce, David (2017). Can biotechnology abolish suffering?. North Carolina: The Neuroethics Foundation. ISBN 9781386842149.
- Waxman, Stephen G. (2018). Chasing men on fire : the story of the search for a pain gene. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. ISBN 9780262037402.