And the Debate Rages On -- The Bioethics of Biotech Enhancement -- Bio, Noo, Soc

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My recent "Kass Speaks!" article discussed some of the views of bioconservatives -- sometimes called bioskeptics -- on using biotech to enhance the abilities of humans. To enable people to become "Better than Well" -- smarter, stronger, faster, healthier -- or to develop new abilities altogether. A more balanced set of arguments can be found here on Reason.Com's debate on human enhancement. Participating in the debate were Ronald Bailey, Reason’s science correspondent and the author of Liberation Biology: The Scientific and Moral Case for the Biotech Revolution; Eric Cohen, director of the Ethics and Public Policy Center’s Biotechnology and American Democracy Program and editor of the group’s journal, The New Atlantis; and Joel Garreau, a reporter and editor for The Washington Post and author of Radical Evolution: The Promise and Peril of Enhancing Our Minds, Our Bodies, and What It Means To Be Human.

To quote moderator Nick Gillespie:

Our panelists tonight will not agree on very much, but on this basic point I suspect they’re in complete agreement: Forget all the talk about Social Security solvency, income tax rates, blue states, red states, even the war in Iraq. The most fundamental social and political issue facing the world today — and tomorrow — is the question of human enhancement.

Unfortunately, the format prevented any real sparring or discussion between the participants (other than the moderator). But this exchange was still a useful overview, especially for anyone relatively new to the debate. I wish they could have produced something a bit more extensive but this piece is still worth a glance.


Future Imperative