Persson Ingmar, Savulescu Julian
Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, Oxford, UK.
J Med Philos. 2010 Dec;35(6):656-69. doi: 10.1093/jmp/jhq052. Epub 2010 Nov 12.
In its basic sense, the term "human" is a term of biological classification: an individual is human just in case it is a member of the species Homo sapiens. Its opposite is "nonhuman": nonhuman animals being animals that belong to other species than H. sapiens. In another sense of human, its opposite is "inhuman," that is cruel and heartless (cf. "humane" and "inhumane"); being human in this sense is having morally good qualities. This paper argues that biomedical research and therapy should make humans in the biological sense more human in the moral sense, even if they cease to be human in the biological sense. This serves valuable biomedical ends like the promotion of health and well-being, for if humans do not become more moral, civilization is threatened. It is unimportant that humans remain biologically human, since they do not have moral value in virtue of belonging to H. sapiens.
从其基本意义上讲，“人”这个术语是一个生物分类术语：一个个体是人，当且仅当它是智人这一物种的成员。其反义词是“非人类”：非人类动物是指属于智人以外其他物种的动物。在“人”的另一种意义上，其反义词是“不人道的”，即残忍无情的（参见“人道的”和“不人道的”）；在这种意义上成为人就是具备道德上的优良品质。本文认为，生物医学研究与治疗应使生物学意义上的人在道德意义上更具人性，即便他们在生物学意义上不再是人。这有助于实现诸如促进健康和幸福等有价值的生物医学目标，因为如果人类不变得更有道德，文明就会受到威胁。人类在生物学上是否仍然是人并不重要，因为他们并非因其属于智人而具有道德价值。
