Arguments Against Machine Moral Considerability

This chapter challenges the view that even if artificial entities were to possess equivalent cognitive capacities to biological beings, they would still be morally less important. It examines (and rejects) possible arguments for this moral asymmetry based on differences in substrate, origins, duplicability, and perceived absence of special qualities in robots, like soul, free will, or dignity. The chapter argues that properties such as one’s origin or non-human nature are generally morally irrelevant and have no impact on one’s moral status or rights. Additionally, while other properties like duplicability or physical toughness of robots may influence how it is permissible to treat them, they do not imply lesser moral status or rights for machines. Finally, the chapter critiques arguments based on the absence of soul, free will, and dignity as philosophically dubious and thus unconvincing.