Evaluating human enhancements: the importance of ideals

Monash Bioethics Review
Johann A R RoduitJan-Christoph Heilinger

Abstract

Is it necessary to have an ideal of perfection in mind to identify and evaluate true biotechnological human "enhancements", or can one do without? To answer this question we suggest employing the distinction between ideal and non-ideal theory, found in the debate in political philosophy about theories of justice: the distinctive views about whether one needs an idea of a perfectly just society or not when it comes to assessing the current situation and recommending steps to increase justice. In this paper we argue that evaluating human enhancements from a non-ideal perspective has some serious shortcomings, which can be avoided when endorsing an ideal approach. Our argument starts from a definition of human enhancement as improvement, which can be understood in two ways. The first approach is backward-looking and assesses improvements with regard to a status quo ante. The second, a forward-looking approach, evaluates improvements with regard to their proximity to a goal or according to an ideal. After outlining the limitations of an exclusively backward-looking view (non-ideal theory), we answer possible objections against a forward-looking view (ideal theory). Ultimately, we argue that the human enhancement debate would lack s...Continue Reading

References

Jun 20, 2000·Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics : CQ : the International Journal of Healthcare Ethics Committees·N Daniels
Oct 20, 2001·Christian Bioethics·James F Keenan
Oct 20, 2001·Christian Bioethics·Mark J Hanson
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Feb 22, 2007·Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences·Julian Savulescu
Jan 23, 2010·Science and Engineering Ethics·Fritz AllhoffJesse Steinberg
Apr 13, 2011·Bioethics·Ruth Chadwick
Jan 14, 2012·Journal international de bioéthique = International journal of bioethics·Bernard Baertschi
Feb 26, 2013·Journal of Medical Ethics·Johann A R RoduitJan-Christoph Heilinger
Mar 23, 2013·Medicine, Health Care, and Philosophy·Jan-Christoph Heilinger, Katja Crone

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Citations

Mar 22, 2018·Medicine, Health Care, and Philosophy·Johann A R RoduitWalter Glannon

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