PHILOSOPHY MASTER’S PROGRAM CONTEMPORARY PHILOSOPHY TRACK The Desirability of Immortality An Analysis of the Arguments Augusto Tiago Silva e Cruz M 2018 Augusto Tiago Silva e Cruz The Desirability of Immortality An Analysis of the Arguments Philosophy Master’s Thesis, supervised by João Alberto Pinto, PhD (University of Porto) and co-supervised by João Pedro de Magalhães, PhD (University of Liverpool). Faculdade de Letras da Universidade do Porto September 2018 2/201 3/201 The Desirability of Immortality An Analysis of the Arguments Augusto Tiago Silva e Cruz Philosophy Master’s Thesis, supervised by João Alberto Pinto, PhD (University of Porto) and co-supervised by João Pedro de Magalhães, PhD (University of Liverpool). Thesis Committee João Relvas, PhD Institute for Molecular and Cell Biology – University of Porto Sofia Miguens, PhD Faculty of Letters – University of Porto João Alberto Pinto, PhD Faculty of Letters – University of Porto Final Grade: 19 (nineteen). 4/201 To the first generation of immortals 5/201 6/201 Table of Contents Declaration of Honour ............................................................................................................... 9 Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................. 10 Abstract .................................................................................................................................... 11 List of Tables, Diagrams, and Abbreviations .......................................................................... 12 Section 1 – Introduction and Preliminary Considerations ....................................................... 13 1.1 – What is This About? ................................................................................................... 13 1.2 – What is Immortality? .................................................................................................. 13 1.3 – Illness and Frailty ........................................................................................................ 16 1.4 – Desirability vs Feasibility ........................................................................................... 17 1.5 – Proxys for Discussion ................................................................................................. 19 1.6 – Curing Aging vs Immortality ...................................................................................... 23 1.7 – What is Aging? ........................................................................................................... 24 1.8 – Delving Deeper into Aging ......................................................................................... 26 1.9 – Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 32 Section 2 – Intrinsic Arguments .............................................................................................. 34 2.1 – Intrinsic Arguments vs Consequential Arguments ..................................................... 34 2.2 – Notes of Interest .......................................................................................................... 34 2.3 – Arguments Against Immortality ................................................................................. 36 2.3.1 – Death is Normal/Natural Argument ..................................................................... 36 2.3.1.1 – Normal Version ............................................................................................. 37 2.3.1.2 – Human Nature Version ................................................................................. 44 2.3.1.3 – God Version .................................................................................................. 57 2.3.1.4 – Artificial Version .......................................................................................... 63 2.3.1.5 – Function Version ........................................................................................... 65 2.3.2 – Boredoom Argument ........................................................................................... 70 2.3.3 – Deadline Argument .............................................................................................. 77 2.4 – Arguments in Support of Immortality......................................................................... 85 2.4.1 – Optionality Argument .......................................................................................... 85 Section 3 – Consequential Arguments ..................................................................................... 88 3.1 – Arguments Against Immortality ................................................................................. 88 3.1.1 – Overpopulation Argument ................................................................................... 88 3.1.1.1 – Understanding the Claim .............................................................................. 89 3.1.1.2 – Counter 1: Increasing D is Not Bad .............................................................. 91 3.1.1.3 – Counter 2: The Overpopulation Taboo and Rhetoric Manoeuvres ............... 93 3.1.1.4 – Counter 3: P Will Not Increase ..................................................................... 97 7/201 3.1.1.5 – Counter 4: Ceteris Paribus is not Warranted: T Will Compensate ............. 101 3.1.1.6 – Counter 5: How to Configure Population? ................................................. 104 3.1.1.7 – Counter 6: Reducing D via P: The Death Rate ........................................... 111 3.1.1.8 – Counter 7: Reducing D via P (and C): The Birth Rate ............................... 116 3.1.1.9 – Concluding Remarks ................................................................................... 123 3.1.2 – Inequality Argument .......................................................................................... 127 3.1.3 – Stagnation Argument ......................................................................................... 154 3.2 – Arguments in Support of Immortality....................................................................... 159 3.2.1 – Life as a Pre-Condition Argument ..................................................................... 159 3.2.2 – Ability to do More and/or Different Argument ................................................. 162 Section 4 – Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 164 4.1 – Dealing with PCBA: Is Immortality Desirable? ....................................................... 164 4.2 – Two Problems with the Conclusion .......................................................................... 166 4.2.1 – Opportunity Costs: How much desirable? ......................................................... 166 4.2.2 – ⸸ and the Burden of Proof .................................................................................. 167 4.3 – Two Birds, One Stone ............................................................................................... 168 4.3.1 – The Necessity of Choice .................................................................................... 169 4.3.2 – Ethics and Choice .............................................................................................. 171 4.3.3 – Recursive Issues? ............................................................................................... 174 4.3.4 – The Ultimate Argument for Immortality (and Ethics) ....................................... 177 4.3.5 – The Instrumentality of Egoism .......................................................................... 182 4.3.6 – Concluding Remarks .......................................................................................... 183 Section 5 – Reference List ..................................................................................................... 185 Section 6 – Appendix ............................................................................................................. 192 8/201 Declaration of Honour I hereby declare that: I am the sole author of the present work, this work was not previously used in academia or in any other place since it was created specifically to be this master’s thesis, references and citations follow the usual rules of attributing the work/idea to the correct source (see Section 5 – Reference List), and I acknowledge that plagiarism is illegal. 9/201 Acknowledgements I want to thank every human that came before me and made this work possible. Standing on the shoulder of giants was necessary to see this far into the future and consider immortality a real possibility. I also want to thank Aubrey de Grey and João Pedro de Magalhães for their work. Their struggle against aging had a large impact on my life and worldview, and they were inspirations for this project. On a more personal level I want to thank my parents for providing me with support, shelter, and food during my student years (including the current one), something well beyond their obligations, and my brother for his company. I also want to thank both my supervisors for the feedback they provided, as well as to my friend Devesa. Lastly, I want to mention my group of close friends, known as JJ, who supported me throughout this project, especially Miguel for his motivation, coaching, and for being a great friend. 10/201 Abstract The objective of this work is evaluating the desirability of immortality.