Beyond Humanity?: The Ethics of Biomedical Enhancement (Uehiro Series in Practical Ethics) - Softcover

Buchanan, Allen E.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0199671494 ISBN 13: 9780199671496

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2013

Synopsis

Biotechnologies already on the horizon will enable us to be smarter, have better memories, be stronger and quicker, have more stamina, live longer, be more resistant to diseases, and enjoy richer emotional lives. To some of us, these prospects are heartening; to others, they are dreadful. In Beyond Humanity a leading philosopher offers a powerful and controversial exploration of urgent ethical issues concerning human enhancement. These raise enduring questions about what it is to be human, about individuality, about our relationship to nature, and about what sort of society we should strive to have. Allen E. Buchanan urges that the debate about enhancement needs to be informed by a proper understanding of evolutionary biology, which has discredited the simplistic conceptions of human nature used by many opponents of enhancement. He argues that there are powerful reasons for us to embark on the enhancement enterprise, and no objections to enhancement that are sufficient to outweigh them.

About this title

About the Author:

Allen E. Buchanan is Professor of Philosophy at Duke University

Review:

"Whether or not the benefits are worth the risks, Buchanan's thought-provoking work deserves careful consideration." --National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0199671494
• ISBN 13: 9780199671496
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 304