Theo Todman's Web Page - Notes Pages
Personal Identity
Chimera
(Text as at 06/07/2023 00:43:12)
Plug Note1
- Thesis Text:
- Chimeras are animals2 – or maybe humanoids – the mythical centaur is an example – made up of parts of animals from different species.
- The original Chimeras were mythical beasts ("Wikipedia - Chimera (Mythology)"), improbable amalgams of lion, goat and snake, though mules ("Wikipedia - Mule", the progeny of a male donkey and a female horse) are chimeras as the parents are of different species with different numbers of chromosomes.
- My only reference for this topic was originally "Savulescu (Julian) - Should a human-pig chimera be treated as a person?". This brief paper focuses on the ethics of using (future) pig-human chimeras as sources of (human) transplant3-organs or neural4 matter.
- The paper’s rhetorical question is rather ludicrous as there would never be any intention of engineering pigs with the attributes needed to qualify as a person, nor the need to do so even in the case of neural tissue (which would remain in the petri-dish). However:-
- Admittedly, "Ishiguro (Kazuo) - Never Let Me Go" considers the cloning of human beings so their organs can be harvested, but this is presumably because it is deemed to be the technologically simplest solution.
- I’m admittedly unclear about the question of neural tissue. But the idea of developing neural structures within a pig-human chimera and transplanting these structures into a human head is as far-fetched as brain transplants5, so can be ignored for now.
- Whether such a beast – whether hybridised with a human or not – were to qualify as a person6 ought to be based on its cognitive capacities and not merely on its chromosomes.
- It is possible that this topic might relate to transhumanism7. Rather than adding small quantities of human to pig, we might add quantities of animal to human. This would be the case in organ transplants – where an essentially normal organ is transplanted – but it might be the case that augmentative strategies could be adopted whereby humans are enhanced with bodily features (or, say, the physiological infrastructure) of animals, much as in the case of cyborgs8, but with organic rather than inorganic parts.
- I’ve noted the extended usage of the term “chimera” to designate human beings with body parts or cells originating from different human beings. I’m not sure this is helpful, or that it has much significant to say about identity conditions. Genetic uniformity is not sufficient for numerical identity (because of identical twins9) and I doubt it is necessary either. Examples given are women after (or possibly during) pregnancy and human-human transplant recipients.
- The following useful material comes from notes made on the RIP-version of "Kingma (Elselijn) - Were You Part of Your Mother?".
- Micro-chimerism (See "Wikipedia - Microchimerism"): Fetal-maternal & Twin-twin transfer. Pregnant women usually pick up fetal cells during pregnancy, which remain in their bodies for decades.
- Macro-chimerism: Kidney donation; blastocyst fusion (see "Wikipedia - Chimera (Genetics)"). This link distinguishes Chimeras from Hybrids and Hybridomas. In a Chimera, each cell is genetically uniform, whereas:-
- Hybrids: form from the fusion of gametes from two species that form a single zygote with a combined genetic makeup. See "Wikipedia - Hybrid (Biology)".
- Hybridomas: result from the fusion of two species' cells into a single cell and artificial propagation of this cell in the laboratory. See "Wikipedia - Hybridoma Technology".
In the latter case, two blastocysts (of non-identical twins) fuse non-pathologically (the pathological cases are of conjoined twins – where there’s incomplete fusion and integration) – for all Kingma knows this might be true of her – so that some organs are formed from one blastocyst and the others, or the skin, are formed from the other. It’d be bonkers to think that such cases weren’t each a (single) organism.
I’m indebted to "Ball (Philip) - How to Grow a Human: Reprogramming Cells and Redesigning Life", pp. 81-5, for further information on the above case where, because of very early fusion of non-identical twin embryos10, the adult may contain cells with different genotypes, which would normally have ended up as two individuals. Things get slightly odd when the twins were of different sexes as the organs can develop from one or the other (or both). There’s also the normal case where ‘foreign’ cells (mostly red blood cells) wander across the placenta and end up in the body of either the mother or the fetus.
References
- Relevant Works cited above:
- "Ball (Philip) - How to Grow a Human: Reprogramming Cells and Redesigning Life", 2020, Book, Read
- "Kingma (Elselijn) - Were You Part of Your Mother?", 2019, Annotations, External Link, Read
- "Savulescu (Julian) - Should a human-pig chimera be treated as a person?", 2016, External Link, Internal PDF Link, Read
- For a Page of Links11 to this Note, Click here. A few metaphorical uses of “chimera” have been ignored.
- Works on this topic that I’ve actually read12, include the following:-
- Aeon:
- "Crabb (Jon) - Monster mash", 2017, Annotations, External Link, Internal PDF Link, Footnote13
- "Rowland (Katherine) - We are multitudes", 2018, External Link, Internal PDF Link
- "Savulescu (Julian) - Should a human-pig chimera be treated as a person?", 2016, External Link, Internal PDF Link
- General:
- "Ball (Philip) - How to Grow a Human: Reprogramming Cells and Redesigning Life", 2020, Book
- "Kingma (Elselijn) - Were You Part of Your Mother?", 2019, Annotations, External Link
- There is currently not much of a categorised reading-list for this topic. A further reading list might start with the items below, and I’ll pursue references from the Stanford paper if necessary:-
- General:
- "Streiffer (Robert) - Human/Non-Human Chimeras", 2009-14, Internal PDF Link, Read = 8%
- "Wikipedia - Chimera (Genetics)", External Link, Read = 25%
- "Wikipedia - Chimera (Mythology)", External Link, Read = 50%
- "Wikipedia - Hybrid (Biology)", External Link, Read = 33%
- "Wikipedia - Hybridoma Technology", External Link, Read = 100%
- "Wikipedia - Microchimerism", External Link, Read = 50%
- "Wikipedia - Mule", External Link, Read = 33%
- For further papers held on-line of potential interest, follow this Link14. Total papers = 1.
- For a list of Works that have been considered, but have missed the cut for inclusion in this Section of my Thesis, see the following:-
- Read: No items to list.
- Further Reading: No items to list.
- This is mostly a place-holder15.
In-Page Footnotes:
Footnote 13:
- Some vaguely interesting historical background.
Table of the Previous 7 Versions of this Note:
| Date |
Length |
Title |
| 20/09/2022 11:24:00 |
5853 |
Chimera |
| 15/05/2022 13:19:12 |
5538 |
Chimera |
| 01/10/2021 13:17:46 |
5432 |
Chimera |
| 07/02/2021 19:46:34 |
4788 |
Chimera |
| 12/09/2020 13:16:19 |
4424 |
Chimera |
| 17/03/2018 00:23:02 |
3932 |
Chimera |
| 10/04/2017 23:38:24 |
2667 |
Chimera |
| Note last updated |
Reading List for this Topic |
Parent Topic |
| 06/07/2023 00:43:12 |
Chimera |
Transhumanism |
Summary of Notes Referenced by This Note
To access information, click on one of the links in the table above.
Summary of Notes Citing This Note
| Aeon Papers - Summary Document: 2017-2018 |
Cyborgs |
Fusion |
Olson - What Are We? Animals |
PID Note, Book & Paper Usage, 2, 3, 4 |
| Thesis - Chapter 08 (Arguments against Animalism) |
Thesis - Chapter 10 (Thought Experiments), 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
Thesis - Chapter 12 (Conclusion) |
Thesis - Current Stance |
Thesis - Personal Identity, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 |
| Transhumanism |
Website Generator Documentation - Functors, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 |
Zygote |
|
|
To access information, click on one of the links in the table above.
Authors, Books & Papers Citing this Note
| Author |
Title |
Medium |
Extra Links |
Read? |
| de Bres (Helena) |
Both one and yet distinct |
Paper  |
|
Yes |
| Descartes (Rene), Gassendi (Pierre) & Caterus (Johannes) |
Descartes Replies to Critics |
Paper  |
|
Yes |
| Kingma (Elselijn) |
Were You Part of Your Mother? |
Paper |
2, 3 |
Yes |
| Olson (Eric) |
What Are We? Animals |
Paper |
|
Yes |
| Rowland (Katherine) |
We are multitudes |
Paper |
2 |
Yes |
| Savulescu (Julian) |
Should a human-pig chimera be treated as a person? |
Paper  |
2, 3, 4, 5, 6 |
Yes |
| Streiffer (Robert) |
Human/Non-Human Chimeras |
Paper |
2, 3 |
|
| Todman (Theo) |
Review of 'What is Truth?' by Peter Vardy |
Paper |
|
Yes |
| Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Chapter 08 (Arguments against Animalism) |
Paper |
|
Yes |
| Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Chapter 10 (Thought Experiments) |
Paper |
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
Yes |
| Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Chapter 12 (Conclusion) |
Paper |
|
Yes |
| Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Current Position |
Paper |
|
Yes |
| Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Cyborgs |
Paper |
|
Yes |
| Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Fusion |
Paper |
|
Yes |
| Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Personal Identity |
Paper |
2, 3, 4, 5, 6 |
Yes |
| Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Transhumanism |
Paper |
|
Yes |
| Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Zygote |
Paper |
|
Yes |
References & Reading List
| Author |
Title |
Medium |
Source |
Read? |
| Ball (Philip) |
How to Grow a Human: Reprogramming Cells and Redesigning Life |
Book - Cited |
Ball (Philip) - How to Grow a Human: Reprogramming Cells and Redesigning Life |
Yes |
| Crabb (Jon) |
Monster mash |
Paper - Cited |
Aeon, 23 October, 2017 |
Yes |
| de Bres (Helena) |
Both one and yet distinct |
Paper - Referencing |
Aeon, 21 November 2023 |
Yes |
| Hains (Brigid) & Hains (Paul) |
Aeon: C-F |
Book - Cited (via Paper Cited) |
Bibliographical details to be supplied |
51% |
| Hains (Brigid) & Hains (Paul) |
Aeon: Follow-up Boxes |
Book - Referencing (via Paper Referencing) |
Bibliographical details to be supplied |
100% |
| Hains (Brigid) & Hains (Paul) |
Aeon: Q-S |
Book - Cited (via Paper Cited) |
Bibliographical details to be supplied |
29% |
| Hains (Brigid) & Hains (Paul) |
Aeon: Q-S |
Book - Referencing (via Paper Referencing) |
Bibliographical details to be supplied |
29% |
| Ishiguro (Kazuo) |
Never Let Me Go |
Book - Cited |
Ishiguro (Kazuo) - Never Let Me Go |
Yes |
| Kingma (Elselijn) |
Were You Part of Your Mother? |
Paper - Cited |
Mind, Volume 128, Issue 511, July 2019, Pages 609–646 |
Yes |
| Kingma (Elselijn) |
Were You Part of Your Mother? |
Paper - Referencing |
Mind, Volume 128, Issue 511, July 2019, Pages 609–646 |
Yes |
| Midgley (Mary) |
Biotechnology and Monstrosity: Why We Should Pay Attention to the 'Yuk Factor' |
Paper - By Subtopic |
The Hastings Center Report, Vol. 30, No. 5 (Sep. - Oct., 2000), pp. 7-15 |
Yes |
| Olson (Eric) |
What are We? A Study of Personal Ontology |
Book - Referencing (via Paper Referencing) |
Bibliographical details to be supplied |
Yes |
| Olson (Eric) |
What Are We? Animals |
Paper - Referencing |
What Are We? A Study in Personal Ontology, Chapter 2 (November 2007: Oxford University Press.) |
Yes |
| Rowland (Katherine) |
We are multitudes |
Paper - Cited |
Aeon, 11 January, 2018 |
Yes |
| Rowland (Katherine) |
We are multitudes |
Paper - Referencing |
Aeon, 11 January, 2018 |
Yes |
| Savulescu (Julian) |
Should a human-pig chimera be treated as a person? |
Paper - Cited |
Aeon, 14 July, 2016 |
Yes |
| Streiffer (Robert) |
Human/Non-Human Chimeras |
Paper - Cited |
Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy, 2009-14 |
8% |
| Todman (Theo) |
Thesis - Chimera |
Paper - By Subtopic |
|
Yes |
| Wikipedia |
Chimera (Genetics) |
Paper - Cited |
Wikipedia, taken 1st March 2023 |
No |
| Wikipedia |
Chimera (Mythology) |
Paper - Cited |
Wikipedia, taken 1st March 2023 |
No |
| Wikipedia |
Hybrid (Biology) |
Paper - Cited |
Wikipedia, taken 1st March 2023 |
33% |
| Wikipedia |
Hybridoma Technology |
Paper - Cited |
Wikipedia, taken 1st March 2023 |
No |
| Wikipedia |
Microchimerism |
Paper - Cited |
Wikipedia, taken 1st March 2023 |
No |
| Wikipedia |
Mule |
Paper - By Subtopic |
Wikipedia, taken 1st March 2023 |
No |
Text Colour Conventions
- Blue: Text by me; © Theo Todman, 2026