A Normative Framework for Analyzing Human Enhancement Technologies

human enhancement;harm principle;ethics and biotechnology;Philosophy

Gentzel, MichaelBok, Hilary ;

Johns Hopkins University

关键词: human enhancement;    harm principle;    ethics and biotechnology;    Philosophy;   

Others  :  https://jscholarship.library.jhu.edu/bitstream/handle/1774.2/39565/GENTZEL-DISSERTATION-2015.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

瑞士|英语

来源: JOHNS HOPKINS DSpace Repository

【 摘 要 】

Due to the explosion of biotechnological advancements, there is a growing body of literature in philosophy concerning the moral and social issues surrounding biotechnical means of enhancing human capacities.A common trend has been to view enhancement as a homogenous category, and to either advocate for it or demonize it.This dissertation advances a moderate view, which suggests that human enhancement should not be normatively analyzed as a single and unified topic; rather, particular categories of enhancement ought to be normatively evaluated based on their own merits and demerits.In doing this, I suggest that concerns about harm to others have not received adequate attention.Addressing the diversity of human enhancements and their potential to create harm to others should play a more prominent role in evaluating specific forms of biotechnology used for human enhancement.This dissertation has two main divisions: a theoretical section and an applied section.In the first section, I develop an interpretation of Joel Feinberg’s conception of harm along with his version of the harm principle.According to this model of harm, A harms B when A unjustly damages B’s interests.The harm principle holds that the prevention of harm to others or the risk of harm to others is always reason in favor of legislation that limits individual liberty.In the second section (Chapters Four, Five and Six), I apply this harm principle and conception of harm to three categories of enhancement.Chapter Four deals with muscle enhancement technology; Chapter Five deals with cognitive enhancement technology; and Chapter Six deals with the genetic engineering of children.In each of these chapters, I consider several ways each category of enhancement could raise concerns about harm to others.I then critically analyze these concerns and propose tentative social policy recommendations based on my analysis of each category of enhancement using the harm principle.