Bioethics 28 (1):153-161 (2014)
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Abstract |
In a series of recent works, Julian Savulescu and Ingmar Persson insist that, given the ease by which irreversible destruction is achievable by a morally wicked minority, (i) strictly cognitive bio-enhancement is currently too risky, while (ii) moral bio-enhancement is plausibly morally mandatory (and urgently so). This article aims to show that the proposal Savulescu and Persson advance relies on several problematic assumptions about the separability of cognitive and moral enhancement as distinct aims. Specifically, we propose that the underpinnings of Savulescu's and Persson's normative argument unravel once it is suitably clear how aiming to cognitively enhance an individual will in part require that one aim to bring about certain moral goods we show to be essential to cognitive flourishing; conversely, aiming to bring about moral enhancement in an individual must involve aiming to improve certain cognitive capacities we show to be essential to moral flourishing. After developing these points in some detail, and their implication for Savulescu's & Persson's proposal, we conclude by outlining some positive suggestions.
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Keywords | moral enhancement cogntive enhancement |
Categories | (categorize this paper) |
Reprint years | 2015 |
DOI | 10.1111/bioe.12076 |
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References found in this work BETA
The Value of Knowledge and the Pursuit of Understanding.Jonathan L. Kvanvig - 2003 - Cambridge University Press.
The Value of Knowledge and the Pursuit of Understanding.Michael Huemer - 2004 - Mind 113 (452):763-766.
Knowledge, Understanding and Epistemic Value.Duncan Pritchard - 2009 - Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplement 64:19-43.
Upheavals of Thought. The Intelligence of Emotions.Martha C. Nussbaum - 2003 - Tijdschrift Voor Filosofie 65 (1):174-175.
View all 17 references / Add more references
Citations of this work BETA
The Epistemology of Cognitive Enhancement.J. Adam Carter & Duncan Pritchard - 2016 - Journal of Medicine and Philosophy (2):220-242.
The Ethical Desirability of Moral Bioenhancement: A Review of Reasons. [REVIEW]Jona Specker, Farah Focquaert, Kasper Raus, Sigrid Sterckx & Maartje Schermer - 2014 - BMC Medical Ethics 15 (1):67.
Intellectual Autonomy, Epistemic Dependence and Cognitive Enhancement.J. Adam Carter - 2017 - Synthese:1-25.
Moral Enhancement Should Target Self-Interest and Cognitive Capacity.Rafael Ahlskog - 2017 - Neuroethics 10 (3):363-373.
View all 13 citations / Add more citations
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