Bio-enhancement enables the possibility of a radically prolonged life, or even medical immortality. However, many hold a pessimistic view as they are influenced by the Makropulos’s argument of Bernard Williams, that immortality is inherently bad for human beings for either the loss of character or inevitable tedium. Yet, I argue that Bernard Williams misunderstood the nature of the experience of human beings in his argument; hence, he gave a mistaken conclusion. I believe immortality is instrume…
Read moreBio-enhancement enables the possibility of a radically prolonged life, or even medical immortality. However, many hold a pessimistic view as they are influenced by the Makropulos’s argument of Bernard Williams, that immortality is inherently bad for human beings for either the loss of character or inevitable tedium. Yet, I argue that Bernard Williams misunderstood the nature of the experience of human beings in his argument; hence, he gave a mistaken conclusion. I believe immortality is instrumentally good for human beings. I argue this in two steps: (1) the reason of placing hope in new invention and human ingenuity; (2) a radically prolonged life enables human beings to flourish their lives better in both quality and quantity. I believe the conclusion helps justify one of transhumanism’s goals – conquering aging, and thus offers a different perspective on the effect of bio-enhancement: not just focusing on the direct boost of humans’ capabilities, but also the indirect effect(s) that will be brought by bio-enhancement.
