The Tragedy of Biomedical Moral Enhancement
- PDF / 424,123 Bytes
- 13 Pages / 547.087 x 737.008 pts Page_size
- 85 Downloads / 175 Views
ORIGINAL PAPER
The Tragedy of Biomedical Moral Enhancement Stefan Schlag
Received: 31 March 2016 / Accepted: 9 October 2016 # Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2016
Abstract In Unfit for the Future, Ingmar Persson and Julian Savulescu present a challenging argument in favour of biomedical moral enhancement. In light of the existential threats of climate change, insufficient moral capacities of the human species seem to require a cautiously shaped programme of biomedical moral enhancement. The story of the tragedy of the commons creates the impression that climate catastrophe is unavoidable and consequently gives strength to the argument. The present paper analyses to what extent a policy in favour of biomedical moral enhancement can thereby be justified and puts special emphasis on the political context. By reconstructing the theoretical assumptions of the argument and by taking them seriously, it is revealed that the argument is self-defeating. The tragedy of the commons may make moral enhancement appear necessary, but when it comes to its implementation, a second-order collective action-problem emerges and impedes the execution of the idea. The paper examines several modifications of the argument and shows how it can be based on easier enforceability of BME. While this implies enforcement, it is not an obstacle for the justification of BME. Rather, enforceability might be the decisive advantage of BME over other means. To take account of the global character of climate change, the
S. Schlag (*) Johannes Gutenberg University, Faculty 02, Jakob-Welder-Weg 12, 55118 Mainz, Germany e-mail: [email protected]
paper closes with an inquiry of possible justifications of enforced BME on a global level. The upshot of the entire line of argumentation is that Unfit for the Future cannot justify BME because it ignores the nature of the problem of climate protection and political prerequisites of any solution. Keywords Moral enhancement . Climate protection . Collective goods . Prisoner’s dilemma . Justification
Introduction Moral behaviour is an important aspect of peaceful and mutually advantageous life in human societies. While a lack of moral behaviour is regularly deplored, moral education and socialisation as attempts to develop and enhance moral capacities are commonly praised. In the light of advances in the neurosciences which turn more and more mental capacities into objects of deliberate change and improvement, neurotechnological enhancement of moral capacities might become possible. So called biomedical moral enhancement (BME) might contribute substantially to societal safety and wellbeing. With their book Unfit for the Future, Ingmar Persson and Julian Savulescu [1] add a new argument to the lively debate on BME of the recent years. They promote the idea to enhance altruism and a sense of justice to improve social cooperation on a global scale. As the main reason for the application of BME, Persson and Savulescu invoke the existential threats caused by
Schlag S.
climate change. Unquestionably, th
Data Loading...
