Episode #46 - Minerva on the Ethics of Cryonics

 In this episode I talk to Francesca Minerva. Francesca is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Ghent. Her research focuses on applied philosophy, specifically lookism, conscientious objection, abortion, academic freedom, and cryonics. She has published many articles on these topics in some of the leading academic journals in ethics and philosophy, including the Journal of Medical Ethics, Bioethics, Cambridge Quarterly Review of Ethicsand the Hastings Centre Report. We talk about life, death and the wisdom and ethics of cryonics. You can download the episode here or listen below. You can also subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher (the RSS feed is here). Show Notes:0:00 - Introduction1:34 - What is cryonics anyway?6:54 - The tricky logistics of cryonics: you need to die in the right way10:30 - Is cryonics too weird/absurd to take seriously? Analogies with IVF and frozen embryos16:04 - The opportunity cost of cryonics18:18 - Is death bad? Why?22:51 - Is life worth living at all? Is it better never to have been born?24:44 - What happens when live is no longer worth living? The attraction of cryothanasia30:28 - Should we want to live forever? Existential tiredness and existential boredom37:20 - Is immortality irrelevant to the debate about cryonics?41:42 - Even if cryonics is good for me might it be the unethical choice?45:00 (ish) - Egalitarianism and the distribution of life years49:39 - Would future generations want to revive us?52:34 - Would we feel out of place in the distant future?Relevant LinksFrancesca's webpageThe Ethics of Cryonics: Is it immoral to be immortal? by Francesca'Cryopreservation of Embryos and Fetuses as a Future Option for Family Planning Purposes' by Francesca and Anders Sandberg'Euthanasia and Cryothanasia' by Francesca and Anders Sandberg'The Badness of Death and the Meaning of Life' (Series) - pretty much everything I've ever written about the philosophy of life and deathAlcor Life Extension FoundationCryonics InstituteTo be a Machine by Mark O'Connell  #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; } /* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */ Subscribe to the newsletter