Human Body, Enhancement, and the Missing Technomoral Virtue
Keywords:
Enhancement, Biomedicine, Humanity, Progress, VirtueAbstract
In this paper we assess two sides of the debate concerning biomedical enhancement. First, the idea that biomedical enhancement should be prohibited on the grounds that it degrades human nature; second, that biomedical enhancement can in principle remove the source of moral evil. In so doing, we will propose a different notion of human nature, what we shall call the agato-teleological idea of human nature, and its implications for a philosophical understanding of the human body. Also, we will point out why it seems unreasonable to think that bodily enhancement is sufficient to guarantee moral progress. Finally, we will propose the idea that our technological societies are in need of a new moral virtue, what we shall call the virtue of non-conservative bodily integrity.
Downloads
Download data is not yet available.
References
Agar, N. (2010). Humanity’s End: Why We Should Reject Radical Enhancement. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Barrett, H.C. (2001). On the Functional Origins of Essentialism. Mind & Society 2(3), 1-30.
Blancke, S. & Smed, J.D. (2013). Evolved to Be Irrational. In: Pigiucci, M. & Boudry, M. (Eds.) Philosophy of Pseudoscience. Reconsidering the demarcation problem. (pp. 361-379). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Bostrom, N. (2003). Human Genetic Enhancement: A Transhumanist Perspective. Journal of Value Inquiry 37(3), 493-506.
Boyd, R. (1999). Homeostatis, Species, and Higher Taxa. In: Wilson, R.A. (Ed.). Species: New Interdisciplinary Essays. (pp. 141-185). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Braidotti, R. (2013). The Posthuman. Cambridge UK: Polity Press.
Buchanan, A. (2011). Beyond Humanity? The Ethics of Biomedical Enhancement. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Chappell, T. (1995). Understanding Human Goods. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Clark, A. (2003). Natural-Born Cyborgs: Minds, Technologies, and the Future of Human Intelligence. New York: Oxford University Press.
Eberl, J.T. (2015). A Thomistic Appraisal of Human Enhancement Technologies. In: Hittinger, J. & Wagner, D.C. (Eds.) Thomas Aquinas: Teacher of Humanity. (pp. 198-225)Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholar Publishing, p. 208.
Finnis, J. (1980). Natural Law and Natural Rights. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Foucault, M. (1982). “The Subject and Power.” In: Dreyfus, H. & Rabinow, P. (Eds.) Michel Foucault: Beyond Structuralism and Hermeneutics. (pp. 208-226) Hemel Hempstead: Harvester.
Fukuyama, F. (2002). Our Posthuman Future: Consequences of the Biotechnology Revolution. New York: Picador.
Gilovich, T.; Griffin, D. & Kahneman, D. (eds.) (2002). Heuristics and Biases. The Psychology of Intuitive Judgement. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Gomez-Lobo, A. (2002). Morality and the Human Goods: An Introduction to Natural Law Ethics. Washington DC: Georgetown University Press.
Habermas, J. (2003). The Future of Human Nature. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Hull, D.L. (1965). The Effect of Essentialism on Taxonomy--Two Thousand Years of Stasis (I). The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 15, 314-326.
Jotterand, F. (2011). ‘Virtue Engineering’ and Moral Agency: Will Post-Humans Still Need Virtues?. AJOB Neuroscience 2(4), 3-9.
Kass, L.R. (1997). The Wisdom of Repugnance. The New Republic, 19-20.
Lewis, D. (1989). Dispositional Theories of Value. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 63, Supplementary Volume, 113-137.
MacIntyre, A. (2007). After Virtue. South Bend: University of Notre Dame Press.
Mahner, M. (2013). Science and Pseudoscience: How to Demarcate after the (Alleged) Demise of the Demarcation Problem. In: Pigliucci, M. & Boudry, M. (Eds.). Philosophy of Pseudoscience: Reconsidering the Demarcation Problem. (pp.29-43). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Murphy, M.C. (2001). Natural Law and Practical Rationality. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Persson, I. & Savulescu, J. (2012). Unfit for the Future. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
President’s Council on Bioethics (2003). Beyond Therapy: Biotechnology and the Pursuit of Happiness. Washington, DC: National Bioethics Advisory Commission.
Putnam, H. (1962). The Analytic and the Synthetic. In: Feigl, H. & Maxwell, G. (Eds). Scientific Explanation, Space and Time. (pp. 358-397) Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science, Vol. 3. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
Robert, J.S. & Baylis, F. (2003). Crossing Species Boundaries. The American Journal of Bioethics 3(3), 1-13.
Sandel, M.J. (2007). The Case against Perfection: Ethics in the Age of Genetic Engineering. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Savulescu, J. (2007). Genetic Interventions and the Ethics of Enhancement of Human Beings. In: Steinbock, B. (Ed.) The Oxford Handbook of Bioethics. (pp. 516-535). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Trigg, R. (1999). Ideas of Human Nature: An Historical Introduction. 2nd ed. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd.
Tversky, A. & Kahneman, D. (1974). Judgment under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases. Science 185(4157), 1124-1131.
Valera, L. (2013). Ecologia Umana. Le sfide etiche del rapporto uomo/ambiente. Roma: Aracne.
Vallor, S. (2016). Technology and the Virtues: A Philosophical Guide to a Future Worth Wanting. New York: Oxford University Press.
Wilson, R.A. (1999). Realism, Essence, and Kind: Resuscitating Species Essentialism?. In: Wilson, R.A. Species: New Interdisciplinary Essays (pp. 187-207). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Žižek, S. (2009). Politica della vergogna. Roma: Nottetempo.
Barrett, H.C. (2001). On the Functional Origins of Essentialism. Mind & Society 2(3), 1-30.
Blancke, S. & Smed, J.D. (2013). Evolved to Be Irrational. In: Pigiucci, M. & Boudry, M. (Eds.) Philosophy of Pseudoscience. Reconsidering the demarcation problem. (pp. 361-379). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Bostrom, N. (2003). Human Genetic Enhancement: A Transhumanist Perspective. Journal of Value Inquiry 37(3), 493-506.
Boyd, R. (1999). Homeostatis, Species, and Higher Taxa. In: Wilson, R.A. (Ed.). Species: New Interdisciplinary Essays. (pp. 141-185). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Braidotti, R. (2013). The Posthuman. Cambridge UK: Polity Press.
Buchanan, A. (2011). Beyond Humanity? The Ethics of Biomedical Enhancement. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Chappell, T. (1995). Understanding Human Goods. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Clark, A. (2003). Natural-Born Cyborgs: Minds, Technologies, and the Future of Human Intelligence. New York: Oxford University Press.
Eberl, J.T. (2015). A Thomistic Appraisal of Human Enhancement Technologies. In: Hittinger, J. & Wagner, D.C. (Eds.) Thomas Aquinas: Teacher of Humanity. (pp. 198-225)Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholar Publishing, p. 208.
Finnis, J. (1980). Natural Law and Natural Rights. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Foucault, M. (1982). “The Subject and Power.” In: Dreyfus, H. & Rabinow, P. (Eds.) Michel Foucault: Beyond Structuralism and Hermeneutics. (pp. 208-226) Hemel Hempstead: Harvester.
Fukuyama, F. (2002). Our Posthuman Future: Consequences of the Biotechnology Revolution. New York: Picador.
Gilovich, T.; Griffin, D. & Kahneman, D. (eds.) (2002). Heuristics and Biases. The Psychology of Intuitive Judgement. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Gomez-Lobo, A. (2002). Morality and the Human Goods: An Introduction to Natural Law Ethics. Washington DC: Georgetown University Press.
Habermas, J. (2003). The Future of Human Nature. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Hull, D.L. (1965). The Effect of Essentialism on Taxonomy--Two Thousand Years of Stasis (I). The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 15, 314-326.
Jotterand, F. (2011). ‘Virtue Engineering’ and Moral Agency: Will Post-Humans Still Need Virtues?. AJOB Neuroscience 2(4), 3-9.
Kass, L.R. (1997). The Wisdom of Repugnance. The New Republic, 19-20.
Lewis, D. (1989). Dispositional Theories of Value. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 63, Supplementary Volume, 113-137.
MacIntyre, A. (2007). After Virtue. South Bend: University of Notre Dame Press.
Mahner, M. (2013). Science and Pseudoscience: How to Demarcate after the (Alleged) Demise of the Demarcation Problem. In: Pigliucci, M. & Boudry, M. (Eds.). Philosophy of Pseudoscience: Reconsidering the Demarcation Problem. (pp.29-43). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Murphy, M.C. (2001). Natural Law and Practical Rationality. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Persson, I. & Savulescu, J. (2012). Unfit for the Future. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
President’s Council on Bioethics (2003). Beyond Therapy: Biotechnology and the Pursuit of Happiness. Washington, DC: National Bioethics Advisory Commission.
Putnam, H. (1962). The Analytic and the Synthetic. In: Feigl, H. & Maxwell, G. (Eds). Scientific Explanation, Space and Time. (pp. 358-397) Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science, Vol. 3. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
Robert, J.S. & Baylis, F. (2003). Crossing Species Boundaries. The American Journal of Bioethics 3(3), 1-13.
Sandel, M.J. (2007). The Case against Perfection: Ethics in the Age of Genetic Engineering. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Savulescu, J. (2007). Genetic Interventions and the Ethics of Enhancement of Human Beings. In: Steinbock, B. (Ed.) The Oxford Handbook of Bioethics. (pp. 516-535). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Trigg, R. (1999). Ideas of Human Nature: An Historical Introduction. 2nd ed. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd.
Tversky, A. & Kahneman, D. (1974). Judgment under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases. Science 185(4157), 1124-1131.
Valera, L. (2013). Ecologia Umana. Le sfide etiche del rapporto uomo/ambiente. Roma: Aracne.
Vallor, S. (2016). Technology and the Virtues: A Philosophical Guide to a Future Worth Wanting. New York: Oxford University Press.
Wilson, R.A. (1999). Realism, Essence, and Kind: Resuscitating Species Essentialism?. In: Wilson, R.A. Species: New Interdisciplinary Essays (pp. 187-207). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Žižek, S. (2009). Politica della vergogna. Roma: Nottetempo.
Downloads
Published
15/01/2018
How to Cite
Stango, M., & Agler, D. W. (2018). Human Body, Enhancement, and the Missing Technomoral Virtue. Sociología Y Tecnociencia, 8(1), 43–59. Retrieved from https://revistas.uva.es/index.php/sociotecno/article/view/1707
Issue
Section
Monographic
License
Sociología y tecnociencia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
The journal allows the authors to retain publishing rights. Authors may reprint their articles in other media without having to request authorization, provided they indicate that the article was originally published in Sociología y Tecnociencia.
