Ethics In Frankenstein Research Paper

Frankenstein: A Modern Prometheus Rough Draft

On the topic of the ethics and potential consequences of synthetic biology

From the beginning of the 20th century, science has been exponentially evolving like never before. Since the dawn of civilized society, mankind has been formulating explanations for the unexplainable by attributing the cause to a grand Creator, one who presides over the natural world. With the evolution of science and widespread understanding of the mechanisms of the world, man is now faced with the issue of whether or not the existence of God is necessary anymore. Furthermore, many believe that humans only possess so much power and should leave complex functions (e.g. the gift of life) to the hands of God. Should we be able

One issue of ethics in synthetic biology is that of the appropriate intentions of scientists; that is, whether or not scientists are pursuing complex synthetic biology for the benefit of research or to establish a new sub-servient race. In the case of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the protagonist Victor Frankenstein had plans to reanimate a monster so that he may serve as the progenitor, a God, to a new race of beings. Unfortunately, Frankenstein’s greed clouded his judgement and blinded him from the consequences of his experiments which is that he created a malformed, unnatural monster (Shelley). When he regained his sanity and saw the light of his actions Frankenstein immediately regretted reanimating his monster (Shelley). Frankenstein’s intentions were not pure; he played God to become a God which is not an appropriate reason behind synthetic biology. If scientists were to play God, it would need to be solely to further the advancements of mankind and to help the species of Earth. Shelley wrote Frankenstein during a period where science was becoming a greater influence and scientists engaged in abnormal and unnatural experiments. Frankenstein was a response to the rapidly progressing scientific movement and the fear Shelley felt towards scientists who attempted to alter the natural course of events without proper knowledge on how to handle the consequence. To say that Shelley wanted science to take a step

Many envision the Singularity to be a time when humans can upload their memories into a computer and live on after death as a computer—an artificial intelligence. The Singularity is an example of complex synthetic biology where man is literally creating a body to transfer into. While many see the Singularity as a loss of humanity, Brooks sees it as a natural evolution. He believes that over time man will become more mechanized—with our mechanic hearts and bionic limb, and machine will become more human-like (adapting to their environment and learning from interaction with others) ("I, Rodney Brooks, am a Robot."). When likened to Shelley, Brooks believes synthetic-mechanized biology is not a dangerous form of evolution at all. Rather, Brooks believes that science will evolve in a natural and safe way where eventually in the future the “monsters” we create are not monsters at all but rather are creations mirrored in the image of