The Harms of Enhancement and the Conclusive Reasons View
The Harms of Enhancement and the Conclusive Reasons View

Author(s): Thomas Douglas
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Anthropology, Philosophy, Social Sciences, Ethics / Practical Philosophy, Sociology
Published by: Institut za filozofiju i društvenu teoriju
Keywords: biomedical enhancement; non-biomedical enhancement; cognitive augmentation; bioethics debate; performance enhancement; medical therapy vs enhancement; ethical implications
Summary/Abstract: Biomedical technologies have traditionally been used primarily to combat disease. But increasingly they can also be used to augment the capacities or traits of normal, healthy people. This practice is commonly referred to as biomedical enhance mentor bioenhancement. Perhaps the best-established examples of biomedical enhancement are cosmetic surgery and doping in sport, but biomedical enhancement also occurs in other spheres. For example, some musicians take beta-blockers to calm their nerves before performances (Tindall 2004) and a significant proportion of American college students report taking methylphenidate (Ritalin) while studying in order to improve performance in examinations (Johnston, O'Malleyand Bachman 2003; Teter et al. 2005).

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