IN THE contemporary debate over the ethics of biotechnology, we hear continually that “human dignity” is under threat from science. The Council of Europe has passed a human cloning protocol, for example, which states: “The instrumentalisation of human beings through the deliberate creation of genetically identical human beings is contrary to human dignity and thus constitutes a misuse of medicine and biology.” Human dignity is one of those concepts that politicians like to throw around, but which few can either define or explain.
The concern of politicians to defend human dignity is understandable, since the demand for equal recognition of…
