Medicine has recently discovered spectacular tools for human enhancement. Yet to date, it has failed to use them well, in part because of ethical objections. Meanwhile, covert attempts flourish to enhance with steroids, mind-enhancing drugs, and cosmetic surgery—all largely unstudied scientifically. The little success to date has been sporadic and financed privately. In How to Build a Better Human, prominent bioethicist Gregory E. Pence argues that people, if we are careful and ethical, can use genetics, biotechnology, and medicine to improve ourselves, and that we should publicly study what people are doing covertly. Pence believes that we need to transcend the two common frame stories of bioethics: bioconservative alarmism and uncritical enthusiasm, and that bioethics should become part of the solution—not the problem—in making better humans.
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Preface
Part I—Competent Adults
Chapter 1: What if Your Virtual Life Surpasses Your Real Life?
Chapter 2: Lessons from Bioethics’ History
Chapter 3: Expanding the Mind with Drugs
Chapter 4: Building Better Female Bodies
Chapter 5: Building Better Male Bodies
Chapter 6: Is it Moral to Feel Better than Well?
Chapter 7: Practical Ways to Build a Longer Life
Chapter 8: Is It Wrong to Live to a Hundred?
Chapter 9: Personalized Genomics: Caveat Emptor!
Part II—Choosing Better, Future Children
Chapter 10: Choosing a Better Embryo
Chapter 11: Eugenic Abortions?
Chapter 12: Building Better Fetuses in Utero
Chapter 13: Building Better Kids at Birth: Vaccinations
Chapter 14: Building Better Minds of Children: Ritalin and Adderal
Part III—Changing Human Nature?
Chapter 15: How Not to think about Genetic Enhancement
Chapter 16: Human Enhancement; Six Psychosocial Objections
Chapter 17: Overview: Cloning, Primordial Cells & Enhancement
Chapter 18: Conclusions and Six Practical Proposals
Acknowledgments
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Human enhancement is an important topic. However, too many authors dwell on improbable scenarios, such as genetic engineering of super-babies. By contrast, this book tackles the real ethical dilemmas that our society faces today. Is it wrong for healthy college students to boost academic performance with Ritalin and similar drugs? Is increased longevity a bane or a boon? How can simple interventions like good nutrition and vaccinations produce children who are not only healthier but smarter? Professor Gregory Pence uses science, logic, and ethics to analyze these and many other topics. Along the way, he explains why we need not fear designer babies and other Brave New World scenarios. Legislators and other policymakers should read this timely and fascinating book so that they will know what to regulate—and what to leave alone
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9781442217638
Publisert
2015-06-08
Utgiver
Vendor
Rowman & Littlefield
Vekt
259 gr
Høyde
212 mm
Bredde
134 mm
Dybde
15 mm
Aldersnivå
G, 01
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Heftet
Antall sider
212
Forfatter