 Convergence at a significantly lower level would have equally unacceptable implications. For example, it would permit the use of radically impaired human beings in any research, however harmful, for which the use of animals with comparable cognitive capacities was permitted. Any view about moral status that aspires to reflective equilibrium with our deeply held moral convictions must confront the abhorrence with which most thoughtful people would regard the practical implications of treating humans with radical cognitive disabilities as having even slightly lower moral status than the rest of us.