Natural selection, childrearing, and the ethics of marriage (and divorce)

building a case for the neuroenhancement of human relationships

Brian D. Earp

Anders Sandberg

Julian Savulescu

pp. 561-587

in: Russell Powell, Guy Kahane, Julian Savulescu (eds), Evolution, genetic engineering and human enhancement, Philosophy & Technology 25 (4), 2012.

Abstract

We argue that the fragility of contemporary marriages—and the corresponding high rates of divorce—can be explained (in large part) by a three-part mismatch: between our relationship values, our evolved psychobiological natures, and our modern social, physical, and technological environment. "Love drugs' could help address this mismatch by boosting our psychobiologies while keeping our values and our environment intact. While individual couples should be free to use pharmacological interventions to sustain and improve their romantic connection, we suggest that they may have an obligation to do so as well, in certain cases. Specifically, we argue that couples with offspring may have a special responsibility to enhance their relationships for the sake of their children. We outline an evolutionarily informed research program for identifying promising biomedical enhancements of love and commitment.