The bioethics of enhancement: transhumanism, disability, and biopolitics [Book Review]

Abstract

Technology can increasingly give us the possibility of overcoming our physical limitations, of extending life indefinitely and even of improving our intellectual, moral, emotional and social capabilities beyond our current state. The question is, are we morally obliged to pursue, or rather to eschew, this transhumanist ideal? In her insightful work, Melinda C. Hall, assistant professor of philosophy at Stetson University, addresses the age-old question of therapy versus enhancement through the dual lens of biopolitics and of disability issues against a Foucauldian backdrop. This equips her with a new methodology to confront transhumanism in a more holistic and consistent manner. The groundwork of Hall’s argument is laid in the first chapter, “Dragon Slayers: Exploring Transhumanism,” where she makes reference to the mythical Dragon-Tyrant taken from the writings of Nick Bostrom, and which symbolizes death, the ultimate human limitation. She shows how transhumanists such as Bostrom, Julian Savulescu and Donna Haraway strive to annihilate this oppressive force once and for all through technology. Hall draws attention to the rhetoric used by these authors who make their case for radical enhancement before comparing their views with those of bio-conservatives including Paul Ramsey, Leon Kass, and Michael Sandel, who are critical of this project. These arguments however, fail to convince Hall and she shows how the rhetoric used by bio-conservatives (playing God, authenticity, human nature and equal opportunity) is in many respects the same as that used by transhumanists, and is based on an Enlightenment humanism which she attacks.