I’d have to disagree. If Chumans could exist, then questioning how we ought to treat them may have some value at some point down the road. Whether or not they could interbreed doesn’t seem to make any differerenc, at least as far as moral treatment is concerned. And anyway, I think the hypothetical is worth considering, as it raises some challenging questions about Catholic moral personhood.
Disagree all you want. There are some things that should not be discussed, certainly not in public. We have enough idiots wasting their time on fools errands. They would do better spending a few hours a day on your knees instead of day dreaming about nonsensicals and hypotheticals. Could elephants be made to fly? Finding the answer to that would be just as useful.
Actually, that’s not true. Although rare, there are cases of mules being fertile and producing other mules, although it’s not something that continues on. In other words, the next generation of mules is indeed sterile, at least in the very few cases that it’s happened.
Would hybridizing a human and a chimpanzee (or other ape) be mad and unethical beyond belief? Yes, without a doubt. Could it happen? There’s always a chance. The church would be better off having an ethical discussion about it now than later, that’s for sure. After all, the Vatican DOES have a plan in place in case of the discovery of aliens or alien contact, and that’s no less crazy. I agree with N0X3x.
Let’s reverse the question: what is the moral status of an anencephalic human (i.e. a human with underdeveloped cortex)?
Spain, Germany, Switzerland and New Zealand already recognise the rights of the great apes anyway and prohibit experimentation on them.On the less evil side, you could create a virus that injects the ‘soul’ base pair into other animals, like dogs. Then parents can say with certainty that their kid’s beloved pet will meet them in heaven. (Providing it didn’t commit any mortal dog sins of course)
I don’t think we want to go that route in America.
The difference is that the world is already searching frantically for aliens, and while I for one consider it a waste of time (what good can finding them do for us; versus a lot of harm), there is no sin involved in looking for them.
Oh thanks. You gave me a tool for a truly evil plan: Spread the ensouling virus in an industrial pig farm. After making sure that the pigs have been ensouled, perform the baptism rite on them. Grab the popcorn, and watch the resulting theological argument
Aren’t there many human beings that are incapable of abstract thought? Are you suggesting that these people are, morally speaking, animals?
This is a Catholic philosophical forum, which addresses Catholic philosophical issues. If this topic can’t be discussed here, where could it be? Raising hypotheticals is important to philosophical progress, and asking questions that may seem unspeakable to most individuals can be as well. It is philosophical suicide to claim that any subject, especially those that have ethical consequences, is un-discussable. Keep in mind that no one is forced to read through this thread, and that I even warned those who might be offended by this thread’s contents in the OP. Only those who are interested in addressing the issue need view it.
It seems that tying the soul to the biological body is exactly what the church does. After all, fetuses, those in vegetative states, and those with severe mental handicaps are given moral worth.
I doubt that ensoulment would be attached to one particular gene. My guess is that there would be some number of human base pairs that would trigger ensolment. I think the church teaches that all human beings have immortal souls, If the soul were genetic, then there probably would have been a number members of the species homo sapien who, through some mutation, have lacked this gene, and have been mistakenly treated as if they have had souls. Our very identities would reside in a single fraction of a molecule. Philotes, anyone?
Bingo.
You are assuming that there are no dogs in heaven - and probably that heaven doesn’t exist…Oh thanks. You gave me a tool for a truly evil plan: Spread the ensouling virus in an industrial pig farm. After making sure that the pigs have been ensouled, perform the baptism rite on them. Grab the popcorn, and watch the resulting theological argument
I doubt that souls are the only type of soul.
However, one of the arguments against GM crops is that hybridized and transgene crops are sometimes more fertile than the manufacturers admit and can become viable in the wild and even able to cross-pollinate with wild plants and weeds, raising fears that some super weed is on the horizon that will be resistent to all pesticides.There is already documented evidence of GM genes being identified in wild plants.
Of course soul is tied to the biological body.