Why do we wish to be enhanced?

Vincent Menuz

pp. 60-85

in: Simone Bateman, Sylvie Allouche, Jerome Goffette, Michela Marzano (eds), Inquiring into human enhancement, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2015

Abstract

Recent progress in the fields of nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology and cognitive science¹ has led to a growing debate concerning the use of these technologies to increase, among other things, individuals' cognitive and physical capacities, as well as their longevity. In Western countries, new philosophical movements, such as the transhumanists,² speculate on the possibilities of using these technologies to dramatically "enhance" human beings (Bostrom, 2005). For such thinkers, humanity is moving towards a post-human condition where biotechnologically enhanced humans will bypass the standard Darwinian concept of evolution (Harris, 2007). They argue that ultimately, technological progress will lead these post-humans to reverse the ageing process and to experience extreme longevity, if not immortality (de Grey, 2005; Kurzweil and Grossman, 2009). The idea of such a radical transformation of human beings is not just a curious idea shared by a small group of eccentric thinkers. Nowadays, many widely circulated magazines are voicing transhumanist ideas,³ while institutes specifically dedicated to the development of technologies to modify human beings are opening their doors.⁴