Orphan Black and Philosophy: Grand Theft DNA (Popular Culture and Philosophy)

In Orphan Black, several apparently unconnected women discover that they are exact physical doubles — they're illegally produced clones, and someone is having them killed. Law enforcement is powerless to help. The clones are forced to form their own Clone Club to defend themselves.

Orphan Black raises philosophical issues, as well as ethical and policy questions. What makes a person unique? Should we have a say in whether we're cloned? Is it immoral to generate clones with built-in defects? What does the behavior of the Clone Club tell us about the nature-nurture debate? Is it relevant that most are heterosexual, one is a lesbian, and one is a transgendered male?

Orphan Black shows us problems of biotechnology that will soon be everyday issues. What kind of a future faces us when human clones are commonplace? Will groups of clones have a tight bond of solidarity, making them a threat to democracy? If the world is going to be taken over by an evil conspiracy, would a scientific cult like Neolution or a religious cult like the Prolethians be better? Should biotech corporations be able copyright human DNA? What rules of morality apply when you can’t trust the police?

• The Science of Orphan Black: The Official Companion
• What We Talk About When We Talk About Clone Club: Bioethics and Philosophy in Orphan Black
• The DNA of Orphan Black
• Orphan Black Classified Clone Reports
• Orphan Black: The Official Coloring Book
• Orphan Black: Helsinki
• Orphan Black: Season Five
• Orphan Black: Deviations
• Orphan Black and the Heroine's Journey: Symbols, Depth Psychology, and the Feminist Epic
• Mr. Robot and Philosophy: Beyond Good and Evil Corp (Popular Culture and Philosophy)