Introduction:In this essay I plan to prove, using three main concepts from John Locke’s An Essay Concerning Human Understanding that replicates are not persons and can be retired without violating and moral, ethical, or legal laws. Replicates are merely man made intelligence and became a threat to real humans. Since the beginning of time man has killed animals and other humans that were a threat to others well-being. Why should these manufactured replicates be any exception?Problem:The problem proposed in the paper is weather or not it is ethical to retire replicates from the movie Blade Runner. In order to answer this question I must answer a couple of other questions. The hardest question will be, Are replicates people or are they just created machines by man. If they do qualify as living beings do we have the right to kill them based on our principles? One can look at these questions from many points of view. I chose to look at these questions from John Locke’s perspective. I will use his philosophy to justify my answers to this question.Background:The movie Blade Runner takes place in the 21st Century. In this time period humans have the technological knowledge to genetically produce human like androids that have the capacity to think, feel, learn, and move about freely. They are in no way controlled by an outside party. However some of these replicates have learned too much and discovered that they are indeed man-made and can only live for four years. In an effort to find a way to extend their lives they rebel and kill several people in a “off world” and hijack a ship and return to earth. These replicates have been made illegal on earth and a special police unit called Blade Runners has been given the authority to kill any replicate on earth upon detection. This is where the moral and ethical dilemma comes in. Do these Blade Runners have the right to kill all replicates in punishment for the actions of a f...
