A scale and a paradigmatic framework for human enhancement
pp. 103-118
Abstract
I would like to propose a scale for enhancement techniques, and in so doing, additionally show that a set of techniques, already in use or likely to be used soon, can serve as a paradigmatic framework for such a scale. As a point of departure, I will briefly comment on a generally accepted definition of "human enhancement": enhancement refers to any attempt to temporarily or permanently overcome the current limitations of the human body through natural or artificial means. This is a comprehensive definition that would include both an apparatus designed to improve the vision of persons suffering from nearsightedness and the engineering of the gene coding for myostatin in a human embryo so as to give birth to an engineered champion.1 Two points in the definition may require further attention: the concept of limitation and the distinction between natural and artificial.
Publication details
Published in:
Bateman Simone, Allouche Sylvie, Goffette Jérôme, Marzano Michela (2015) Inquiring into human enhancement: interdisciplinary and international perspectives. Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan.
Pages: 103-118
Full citation:
Nouvel Pascal (2015) „A scale and a paradigmatic framework for human enhancement“, In: S. Bateman, S. Allouche, J. Goffette & M. Marzano (eds.), Inquiring into human enhancement, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 103–118.