Overview
Biotechnologies - ranging from genetic manipulation to pharmacology and surgical tehniques - are rapidly making it possible to enhance an individual's appearance, mood, mental and physical abilities, and even personality in ways previously only imagined. In this volume, scholars from philosophy, sociology, history, theology, women's studies and law explore the looming ethical and social implications of these biotechnologies. To clarify the issues, the contributors grapple with the central concept of ""enhancement"" and probe the uses and abuses of the term. They identify the critical difficulty in distinguishing between treatment and enhancement - a distinction crucial to future policymaking as well as to moral debate. Focusing in particular on the moral issues pertaining to cosmetic surgery and cosmetic psychopharmacology (a category which includes Prozac), they also examine notions of identity, authenticity, normality and complicity. Other essays in this collection address the social ramifications of the technologies, including the problems of access and fairness; the threat of imposing dominant conceptions of normality; and the temptation to ignore the complex causes of some forms of suffering.
Full Product Details
Author: Erik Parens
Publisher: Georgetown University Press
Imprint: Georgetown University Press
Edition: New edition
Dimensions:
Width: 15.20cm
, Height: 1.80cm
, Length: 22.90cm
Weight: 0.399kg
ISBN: 9780878407804
ISBN 10: 0878407804
Pages: 272
Publication Date: 03 January 2000
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
,
Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Manufactured on demand
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.
Reviews
Are enhancement technologies a good thing? We regard self-development through education and exercise a virtue, almost a duty. Why not pursue these ends by means of enhancement technologies?... Enhancing Human Traits represents a landmark in the discussion of these thorny issues...I predict that this book will open a debate that will play a significant role in shaping our culture in the years to come. -- Nature Coherently organized, Enhancing Human Traits provides a useful set of perspectives for framing ethical, social, and policy questions in what will continue to be a controversial area of medicine. -- Choice [A] timely and important book...the essays in this volume represent cutting-edge work on an important topic for bioethics. -- Bioethics Recommended to the increasing number of physicians who have a strong commitment to biomedical ethics. -- New England Journal of Medicine
Author Information
Erik Parens is the associate for philosophical studies at The Hastings Center.
