[3] The concept of uplift can be traced to H. G. Wells's 1896 novel The Island of Doctor Moreau, in which the titular scientist transforms animals into horrifying parodies of humans through surgery and psychological torment.
In contrast, humans have given their uplifted dolphins and chimpanzees near-equal civil rights, with a few legal and economic disabilities related to their unfinished state.
A key scene in Startide Rising is a discussion between a self-aware computer (the Niss) and a leading human (Gillian) about how the events during their venture (and hence the novel's plot) relate to the morality of the Galactics' system of uplift.
Some commentators, such as M. Keith Booker [de], have argued that some pieces of literature have used uplift as an allegory for the white man's burden and colonialism.
Booker singles out Robert Silverberg's Downward to the Earth as a novel that mirrors Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness in a science-fiction setting.