Is this Cell Entity a Human Being? Neural Activity, Spiritual Soul, and the Status of the Inner Cell Mass and Pluripotent Stem Cells

Abstract

Recent experiments demonstrate that somatic cells can, in principle, be reverted to a totipotent stage. This result stresses the need for rules allowing us to distinguish between embryos and nonembryos. In this chapter, I discuss more in depth the assumption that the proper biological potential for developing neural activity specific to a human body’s spontaneous movements provides the observable basis for ascertaining the presence of a spiritual soul. I show that this assumption does not mean reducing the spiritual soul to a material principle. Additionally, I argue that the inner cell mass (ICM) of a human embryo shares the status of a personal human being; by contrast the trophectoderm (TE) can be replaced without changing the personal identity of the embryo (just as changing the heart or skin of an adult does not change his or her personal identity). I show however that deciding this argument requires new experiments in animal models. These experiments are crucial for distinguishing between embryos and nonembryos. Finally, I stress that for coherently deciding whether a cell entity shares the status of a human person it is crucial to take the human body’s behavior as the basis for philosophical reflection and ascription of rights.