1. I was stimulated to start this article in anticipation of attending the “Round table”: Regulating the Tyrell Corporation: Company Law and the Emergence of Novel Beings (WT.208871/Z/17/Z.) Grey’s Inn, London, January 17, 2018 convened by David Lawrence and Sarah Morley. I am indebted to all those who attended. Special thanks go to my colleagues Giulia Cavalieri and David Lawrence for detailed comments and assistance beyond the call of friendship, and to Tomi Kushner for, as ever, the most constructive and insightful editorial suggestions and encouragement.

2. Morris, DZ. Mercedes-Benz’s self-driving cars would choose passenger lives over bystanders. Fortune, October 15, 2016; available at http://fortune.com/2016/10/15/mercedes-self-driving-car-ethics/ (last accessed 17 Apr 2018).Google Scholar

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5. Coke, E. The Third Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England. Societie of Stationers; 1628, pt. III, chap. 7:47.Google Scholar I am grateful to David Lawrence for this reference.

6. Slavery was abolished in an 1833 act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. This abolished slavery throughout the British Empire (with the exceptions “of the Territories in the Possession of the East India Company,” Ceylon, now Sri Lanka, and Saint Helena. the exceptions were eliminated in 1843). Slavery Abolition Act of 1833, February 14, 2018; available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_Abolition_Act_1833 (last accessed 17 Apr 2018).

7. I prefer to speak of “fundamental rights” rather than “human rights” because of the inherent species bias in the use of the term “human” in this context. See Harris, J. Taking the “human” out of human rights. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 2011;20(1):9–20.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

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9. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1990/37 (last accessed 17 Apr 2018).

10. Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority. n.d.; available at https://www.hfea.gov.uk/ (last accessed 17 Apr 2018).

11. To the extent that such bodies exist outside the United Kingdom

12. I do not here further explore the nature of mind.

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22. For a full account of the logic of refrainings see Harris, J. Violence and Responsibility. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul; 1980.Google Scholar

23. I discussed the latitude afforded humans by the God of the Old Testament in Chapter 4 of How to be Good. See note 3, Harris 2016, at 56ff.

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27. I cannot remember where I found the lines quoted in the text. There are many extant versions, but I prefer these lines to one of the many alternatives formulations; namely, “Luther then replied: Your Imperial Majesty and Your Lordships demand a simple answer. Here it is, plain and unvarnished. Unless I am convicted [convinced] of error by the testimony of Scripture or (since I put no trust in the unsupported authority of Pope or councils, since it is plain that they have often erred and often contradicted themselves) by manifest reasoning, I stand convicted [convinced] by the Scriptures to which I have appealed, and my conscience is taken captive by God’s word, I cannot and will not recant anything, for to act against our conscience is neither safe for us, nor open to us. On this I take my stand. I can do no other. God help me.” Martin Luther: Excerpts from his account of the confrontation at the Diet of Worms. January 17, 1997; available at http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~lyman/english233/Luther-Diet_of_Worms.htm (last accessed 17 Apr 2018).

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31. Op Cit.

32. Harris, J. The survival lottery. Philosophy 1975;50:81.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

33. I think I overheard the suggestion that we might leave trolleys to solve the Trolley Problem for themselves at the meeting referred to in note 1, but I have not been able to identify the source.

34. http://science.sciencemag.org/content/352/6293/1573 (last accessed 21 Jan 2018, but not read because it was behind a pay wall). I cite it for others.

35. See note 2, Morris 2016.

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38. See note 22, Harris 1980, at 91.

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43. Indeed even human persons find such survival problematic.