Better Than Human: The Promise and Perils of Enhancing Ourselves

208 Pages·2011·1.13 MB·English

by  Allen E. Buchanan

BETTER THAN HUMAN
PHILOSOPHY IN ACTION
Small Books about Big Ideas
Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, series editor
Living with Darwin: Evolution, Design, and the Future of Faith
Philip Kitcher
Morality without God?
Walter Sinnott-Armstrong
Th e Best Th ings in Life: A Guide to What Really Matters
Th omas Hurka
Better than Human
Allen Buchanan
BETTER THAN HUMAN
Th e Promise and Perils of Enhancing Ourselves
Allen Buchanan
1
3
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Buchanan, Allen E., 1948–
Better than human: the promise and perils of biomedical enhancement/ Allen Buchanan.
p. cm.—(Philosophy in action) (Small books about big ideas)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-19-979787-5 (alk. paper)
1. Bioethics. 2. Medical innovations—Moral and ethical aspects. I. Title. II. Series.
QH332.B83 2011
174.2—dc22 2010052276
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
PREFACE
I recently published a much longer scholarly book, also with Oxford
University Press, on the ethics of biomedical enhancement, entitled
Beyond Humanity? Th at book was written for a more academic
audience and was especially directed toward professional bioethi-
cists and moral philosophers. Because I believe that the themes it
explored are of great public interest, I’ve written the present volume
with a wider audience in mind.
Th e present volume contains no footnotes, though it does have
an extensive bibliography. For those who desire documentation for
what I say in this book, I suggest you look at the scholarly book. It
contains a mind-numbing expanse of endnotes.
Better than Human isn’t a dumbed-down version of B eyond
Humanity? It includes a number of ideas that occurred to me aft er
Beyond Humanity? was already in press. Nonetheless, Better than
Human is considerably leaner than its predecessor. I’ve eliminated
some rather complex and some might say arcane discussions that are
appropriate for scholars but guaranteed to induce deep sleep in
normal people.
In addition to having somewhat diff erent content, the two books
are written in quite diff erent styles. Th e present volume is more
informal and conversational. And, I might add, it more directly
expresses my feelings about the topic and about how it is oft en pre-
sented and discussed.
Because this book builds on its predecessor, I should acknowl-
edge all those who helped me to write the fi rst volume. I won’t
repeat the entire list included in the acknowledgments of B eyond
vi Preface
Humanity? But I do want to off er special thanks to Matthew
Braddock and Whitney Kane for their excellent research assistance
and to Sandy Arneson, Jeff L. Holzgrefe, and Russell Powell for
their valuable comments on the penultimate draft of Better than
Human. I also am indebted to Peter Ohlin of OUP and to Walter
Sinnot-Armstrong, the outstanding editor of the Philosophy in
Action series.
July 25, 2010
CONTENTS
Preface v
1. Breathless Optimism, Hysterical Loathing 3
2. Why Evolution Isn’t Good Enough 2 6
3. Changing Human Nature? Or: Unnatural Acts, and Not Just
with Sheep Like Dolly 5 2
4. Playing God, Responsibly 75
5. Will the Rich Get Biologically Richer? 1 02
6. Is Enhancement Corrupting? 1 33
7. Th e Enhancement Enterprise 172
References 183
Index 195
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BETTER THAN HUMAN