Abstract

Artificial cloning of human beings, to be used as warehouses for organs is absolutely forbidden which, however, does not mean it will not be part of a possible and ominous future for humanity. In fact it has been the subject of fantasy literature and of various science fiction films. In nearly all of them, the clones ignore their condition as such, which brings to the fore the question of elemental ethics. Never Let me Go (Mark Romanek, 2010), based on Kazuo Ishiguro’s 2005 novel of the same name, puts forward a particularly disquieting variant on the subject. What would happen if the clones, knowing their condition, accepted their fate and volunteered to be sacrificed for the greater good? This work analyses the existentialist ethics of such a possibility by following the lives of a group of young people educated from their early childhood for this purpose. Such altruism, far from creating a calming effect, causes terrifying anxiety in both us and the clones themselves.

Key words: Bioethics | Cloning | Organ’s transplant