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134Ideas of Perfection and the Ethics of Human EnhancementBioethics 29 (9): 622-630. 2015.Whatever ethical stance one takes in the debate regarding the ethics of human enhancement, one or more reference points are required to assess its morality. Some have suggested looking at the bioethical notions of safety, justice, and/or autonomy to find such reference points. Others, arguing that those notions are limited with respect to assessing the morality of human enhancement, have turned to human nature, human authenticity, or human dignity as reference points, thereby introducing some pe…Read more
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219Human enhancement and perfectionJournal of Medical Ethics 39 (10): 647-650. 2013.Both, bioconservatives and bioliberals, should seek a discussion about ideas of human perfection, making explicit their underlying assumptions about what makes for a good human life. This is relevant, because these basic, and often implicit ideas, inform and influence judgements and choices about human enhancement interventions. Both neglect, and polemical but inconsistent use of the complex ideas of perfection are leading to confusion within the ethical debate about human enhancement interventi…Read more
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65Evaluating human enhancements: the importance of idealsMonash Bioethics Review 32 (3-4): 205-216. 2014.Is it necessary to have an ideal of perfection in mind to identify and evaluate true biotechnological human “enhancements”, or can one do without? To answer this question we suggest employing the distinction between ideal and non-ideal theory, found in the debate in political philosophy about theories of justice: the distinctive views about whether one needs an idea of a perfectly just society or not when it comes to assessing the current situation and recommending steps to increase justice. In …Read more
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8The case for perfection: ethics in the age of human enhancementPeter Lang. 2016.This book critically examines what role, if any, should the notion of perfection play in the debate regarding the ethics of human enhancement. It defends that the concept of -human perfection- needs to be central when morally assessing human enhancements."
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35Science fiction and human enhancement: radical life-extension in the movie ‘In Time’ (2011)Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy 21 (3): 287-293. 2018.The ethics of human enhancement has been a hotly debated topic in the last 15 years. In this debate, some advocate examining science fiction stories to elucidate the ethical issues regarding the current phenomenon of human enhancement. Stories from science fiction seem well suited to analyze biomedical advances, providing some possible case studies. Of particular interest is the work of screenwriter Andrew Niccol (Gattaca, S1m0ne, In Time, and Good Kill), which often focuses on ethical questions…Read more
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University of ZürichResearcher
Zürich, Canton of Zürich, Switzerland
Areas of Interest
Applied Ethics |
Normative Ethics |