Orphan Black is a series that deals with and explores the ethics and morality of human cloning. This is done through the same, but different, clones that are introduced throughout the series. These clones are fully developed individuals, but they are also patented technological inventions. Throughout the series they are often seen by ‘the villains’ as godless freak, monstrosities that must be eradicated or they are exploited for their scientific value in an experiment where the end justifies the means. This solidifies their status as Other thus indicating the issue of xenophobia, which is exactly a challenge to human unity.
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4 Comments on "Orphan Black: Otherness and the Ethics of Science"
Very interesting to bring up cloning as a challenge to human unity. I haven’t watched the series yet, so I wonder: Are the clones different from humans in any other way than being cloned and thereby “artificial” in the eyes of most people? Would they be able to reproduce with ordinary humans? Do they have the same abilities and weaknesses? Does evolution play a role as a theme here? Would we categorize this challenge to unity along with robots or aliens, or do they represent a next stage in the evolutionary history of humanity?
Dear Daniel, thank you for the example, I haven’t heard for the series! However, from your description I could see that it discusses the need for changing the anthropocentric perception of the human environment, the need to show that a man or a woman doesn’t have to be the only possible measure of the world, and especcialy fromthe aspect of normality, goodness, truth. This posthumanistic need for the ethical changes is well shown on the series of photoes where the figure of man in the Da Vinci’s sketch “Vetruvian man” is replaced by woman, animal or cyborg.