What we talk about when we talk about clone club : bioethics and philosophy in Orphan black

219 Pages·2016·1.99 MB·English

by  Pence

Praise for What We Talk About
When We Talk About Clone Club
“This book brings together a fascinating television show and the bioethical
expertise of a brilliant scholar—a mix that can only benefit the reader. Professor
Pence has been thinking and writing thoughtfully and provocatively about the
ethics of cloning for decades. Orphan Black brings cloning to life in ways that
Pence treats as an opportunity to learn, think, and even be amused. It is a
powerful and rare combination, not to be missed.”
—ARTHUR CAPLAN, PHD, founding director of the Division
of Medical Ethics at NYU Langone Medical Center “Finally, the long-awaited
bioethics companion for legions of Orphan Black fans has arrived. Medical
ethics expert and science fiction aficionado Gregory E. Pence has written a
wonderful book that is both a captivating read as well as highly educational. He
is taking us on a whirlwind tour of the ethics of cloning, gene patenting,
sexuality and gender, personal identity, and so much more! I highly recommend
this for inclusion in your personal dinner table conversation starter kit, student
reading materials, or simply as a book to read on your next long flight or at the
beach. Buy it, you won’t regret it!”
—UDO SCHUKLENK, PHD, professor of philosophy and
Ontario Research Chair in Bioethics “Novels, movies, and television series often
promote fallacies about human cloning. In this timely book, Professor Greg
Pence fights fire with fire, transforming Orphan Black from hit series into
bioethics and philosophy text. His thoughtful analysis of cloning fact and fiction
draws upon a wealth of scientific and sociological research. Professors and
students alike will enjoy this rich and entertaining book.”
—KERRY LYNN MACINTOSH, professor of law,
Santa Clara University
WHAT WE TALK
A B O U T W H E N
WE TALK ABOUT
CLONE CLUB
WHAT WE TALK
A B O U T W H E N
WE TALK ABOUT
CLONE CLUB
BIOETHICS AND PHILOSOPHY
IN ORPHAN BLACK
G E. P , P D
REGORY ENCE H
THIS PUBLICATION IS UNOFFICIAL AND UNAUTHORIZED.
IT HAS NOT BEEN PREPARED, APPROVED, AUTHORIZED,
LICENSED, OR ENDORSED BY ANY ENTITY THAT CREATED
OR PRODUCED THE WELL-KNOWN TELEVISION SERIES
ORPHAN BLACK.
Copyright © 2016 by Gregory E. Pence
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any
manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief
quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
BenBella Books, Inc.
10300 N. Central Expressway, Suite #530, Dallas, TX 75231
www.benbellabooks.com | Send feedback to [email protected]
First E-Book Edition: March 2016.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Pence, Gregory E.
Title: What we talk about when we talk about clone club : bioethics and
philosophy in Orphan black / Gregory E. Pence.
Description: Dallas, Texas : Smart Pop, 2016.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015046218 (print) | LCCN 2016002881 (ebook) | ISBN
9781942952343 (paperback) | ISBN 9781942952350 (electronic)
Subjects: LCSH: Orphan black (Television program) | Bioethics on television. |
BISAC: PERFORMING ARTS / Theater History & Criticism. |
PHILOSOPHY Ethics & Moral Philosophy. | SOCIAL SCIENCE / Popular
Culture.
Classification: LCC PN1992.77.O75 P46 2016 (print) | LCC PN1992.77.O75
(ebook) | DDC 791.45/72—dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/20150462183
Editing by Leah Wilson and Vy Tran | Copyediting by James Fraleigh
Proofreading by Chris Gage and Michael Fedison
Text design and composition by Silver Feather Design
Full cover by Sarah Dombrowsky
Front cover and interior illustrations by Ralph Voltz
Printed by Lake Book Manufacturing
Distributed by Perseus Distribution | www.perseusdistribution.com
To place orders through Perseus Distribution:
Tel: [phone] | Fax: [phone] | E-mail:
[email protected]
Significant discounts for bulk sales are available. Please contact Aida Herrera
at [email protected].
Contents
Chapter 1 Orphan Black and Bioethics
Chapter 2 Personhood and Human Clones:
The Orphans of Project Leda
Chapter 3 Our Fears of Clones:
And Their Reflections in Literature and Film
Chapter 4 “These Crippled and Distorted Men”:
The Island of Dr. Moreau and the Scientists of Orphan Black
Chapter 5 “Ipsa Scientia Potestas Est”:
The Scientific Pedigree of Cloning
Chapter 6 What’s Wrong with the Ledas?
Chapter 7 The Ethics of Synthetic Biology
Chapter 8 Orphan Black and the Ethics of Patenting Human Life
Chapter 9 “Things Which Have Never Been Done”:
Eugenics and Clonal Dynasties
Chapter 10 Nature, Nurture, and Clonal Identity
Chapter 11 Are the Ledas Really
Genetically Identical?
Chapter 12 Sexuality, Gender Identity,
and Orphan Black
Chapter 13 Kendall Malone Chimeras,
and Sexual Anomalies at Birth
Chapter 14 Would Knowing You Were a Clone
Damage Your Sense of Identity?
Chapter 15 Kant’s Personhood and the Formation
of a Clone’s Identity
Chapter 16 “When Did I Become Us?”:
Group Identity as a Leda or as a Castor
Chapter 17 Stealing and Swapping Identities:
Twins and Clones
Chapter 18 Clones and Free Will
Chapter 19 Helena, Freud, Henrik, and Foucault
Chapter 20 Top Five Ideas for Future
Orphan Black Episodes
References
Acknowledgments
About the Author

CHAPTER 1
Orphan Black and Bioethics
B
ioethics is one of today’s most exciting new fields. Orphan Black is one of
the most exciting shows on television. Bioethics explores ethical issues in
medicine and science. Orphan Black dramatizes ethical issues in medicine and
science. What could be more appropriate than a marriage of the two? Like the
two interwoven strands of nucleotides that make up DNA molecules, the famous
“double helix,” they are intimately linked.
Bioethics erupted into the consciousness of North Americans in 1962 with a
LIFE magazine article about the God Committee, which controversially decided
on the basis of social worth who lived, and who died, in getting access to then-
scarce kidney dialysis machines. As science and technology became more
advanced, so did the ethical issues surrounding them: the questionable status as
living persons of comatose patients with brain-stem reflexes such as Karen Ann
Quinlan, Nancy Cruzan, and Terri Schiavo; legal decisions about abortions;
debates about heart transplants, surrogate mothers, AIDS, the vulnerability of
psychiatric patients, greedy Big Pharma, Dr. Kevorkian, “Octomom,” research
on animals, and Obamacare; treatment of intersex, gay, and transgender persons;
and enhancements of people by drugs, surgery, and (of special relevance to
Orphan Black) genetic interventions.
Then, of course, there looms the mega-bioethical issue of our times: cloning
humans. From the moment in 1997 that banner headlines screamed about the
cloning of Dolly the sheep, the world has been fascinated with the possibly
horrific implications of human clones. Perhaps no other ethical issue in modern
history has grabbed more attention, caused more hysteria, or inspired so much