Better Than Human: The Promise and Perils of Enhancing Ourselves PDF
Preview Better Than Human: The Promise and Perils of Enhancing Ourselves
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 Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that further Oxford University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education. Oxford New York A uckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offi ces in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Th ailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Copyright © 2011 Oxford University Press Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 www.oup.com Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. 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 This page intentionally left blank BETTER THAN HUMAN
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