Human enhancement describes any attempt, whether temporary or permanent, to overcome the current limitations of human cognitive and physical abilities, whether through natural or artificial means.

Overview

While in some circles, such as the writings of bioethicist Nicholas Agar, the expression "human enhancement" is roughly synonymous with human genetic engineering, it also is used to refer to the general application of converging NBIC technologies and human enhancement technologies. This includes the modification of DNA, the use of nootropic drugs, or the replacement of parts of the human anatomy, such as limbs, organs, or functional systems, with prosthetic substitutes capable of superior functioning.

Since the 1990s, transhumanists have risen to become the most prominent advocates of human enhancement while bioconservatives have always been its most prominent critics.

Human enhancement technologies

Human enhancement technologies (HET) are technologies that can be used not simply for treating illness and disability, but also for enhancing human capacities and characteristics.

HET are closely associated with the transhumanism, a movement which espouses the ethical use of these technologies to increase human health, abilities, and lifespan.

The following are examples of human enhancing technologies:

• Brainwave synchronization
• Antidepressants
• Brain-computer interface
• Cybernetics
• Doping (sport)
• Exocortex
• Gene therapy
• Growth hormone
• Human genetic engineering

• Binaural beats
• Neurofeedback
• Intelligence amplification
• Life extension
• Nanomedicine
• NBIC
• Nootropics
• Plastic surgery
• Reprogenetics

Criticism

The general criticism of human enhancement, which is also voiced by some of its supporters, is that it is or will often be practiced with a reckless and selfish short-term perspective that is ignorant of the long-term consequences on individuals and the rest of society.

Advocates of human enhancement who stress social responsibility, such as techno-progressives and the correspondingly more moderate transhumanists, defend and promote rigorous, independent safety testing of human enhancement technologies.

See also

• Bioconservatism
• Bioethics
• Biopolitics
• Bionics
• Cyborg
• Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies
• Intelligence amplification
• Liberal eugenics

• Morphological freedom
• Participant evolution
• Posthuman
• Procreative beneficence
• Reprogenetics
• Techno-progressivism
• Transhuman
• Transhumanism

References

• Agar, Nicholas. Liberal Eugenics: In Defence of Human Enhancement. Blackwell, 2004. ISBN 1405123907 / ISBN 1405123893
• Miah, Andy. Genetically Modified Athletes: Biomedical Ethics, Gene Doping and Sport. Routledge, 2004. ISBN 0415298806
• Naam, Ramez. More Than Human: Embracing the Promise of Biological Enhancement. Broadway Press, 2005. ISBN 0767918436

External links

• Community Perspectives on the Right to Human Enhancement
• Enhancement Technologies Group
• Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies

Bioethics | Transhumanism