Ronald Sandler (Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy; Director, Ethics Institute Northeastern University) will be giving a talk entitled “The Ethics of Deextinction”

Friday, February 7th, 2014
3:30 to 5:30pm
Concordia University – EV Building 1605
1515 Sainte-Catherine West – Montreal, QC – Canada

Abstract:
It appears that it may now be possible to revive species that have been extinct for several decades, centuries, or even millennia. This invites the question: Should we bring species back from extinction? Some have argued that we have an ethical obligation to de-extinct species that we caused to go extinct, such as the passenger pigeon and the Tasmanian tiger. Others have argued that it would ethically irresponsible and reckless to try to bring them back. In this talk, I conduct an ethical analysis and evaluation of deextinction, in which I assess several possible ethical considerations in favor of pursuing deextinction, as well as several possible ethical arguments against deextinction. I conclude that reviving extinct species can be ethically acceptable under certain conditions, but that there is not a responsibility or obligation to revive extinct species.

**Small reception will follow in romm: EV 2.260

Co-sponsors:
Concordia Centre for Applied Synthetic Biology
Loyola Sustainability Research Centre
Loyola College for Diversity and Sustainability
Centre for Engineering in Society