it raises pressing questions about the ethical implications of human-robot interactions, as well as the moral status of social robots (cf. Darling 2014: 9-21, Gunkel 2015). Should social robots, and carebots in particular, be afforded some moral rights and legal protections (e.g. prohibitions on robot abuse and mistreatment)?
Why or why not? What are the potential problems with granting or denying social robots some degree of moral standing?
How should we establish limiting factors and determine the extent of protections for social robots?
(i)Defend a position on the moral status of social robots with a principled argument and use detailed examples of concrete human practices to illustrate the ethical implications of your principled position;
(ii) consider how someone might raise a compelling objection that targets a premise or inference in your argument
(explain the reasoning that supports the objection); and (iii)
offer a reasonable rejoinder to the objection by either modifying your position to accommodate the concern or countering the objection with an argument that neutralizes the force of the objection.
Reproductive Genetic Engineering: What are the ethical concerns in light of the recent advances in reproductive
genetic engineering? Should parents be permitted to use such biotechnology to select desirable traits for their
children? Why or why not?
Are there any morally significant differences between selecting against genetic diseases vs. selecting for non-disease genetic traits?
