University of Manchester, School of Law.
Bioethics. 2011 Feb;25(2):102-11. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8519.2010.01854.x. Epub 2010 Dec 7.
This paper identifies human enhancement as one of the most significant areas of bioethical interest in the last twenty years. It discusses in more detail one area, namely moral enhancement, which is generating significant contemporary interest. The author argues that so far from being susceptible to new forms of high tech manipulation, either genetic, chemical, surgical or neurological, the only reliable methods of moral enhancement, either now or for the foreseeable future, are either those that have been in human and animal use for millennia, namely socialization, education and parental supervision or those high tech methods that are general in their application. By that is meant those forms of cognitive enhancement that operate across a wide range of cognitive abilities and do not target specifically 'ethical' capacities. The paper analyses the work of some of the leading contemporary advocates of moral enhancement and finds that in so far as they identify moral qualities or moral emotions for enhancement they have little prospect of success.
本文指出，在过去的二十年中，人类增强是生物伦理领域最引人关注的领域之一。本文更详细地讨论了一个领域，即道德增强，这一领域正在引起当代人的极大兴趣。作者认为，到目前为止，除了易受新型高科技（包括基因、化学、手术和神经等手段）的人为操纵之外，可靠的道德增强方法无论是现在还是可预见的未来，都只能是人类和动物几千年来一直在使用的方法，即社会化、教育和家长监督，或者是广泛应用的高科技方法。这里指的是那些能够提高广泛认知能力而不是专门针对“道德”能力的认知增强形式。本文分析了一些当代道德增强的主要倡导者的工作，发现他们在确定可增强的道德品质或道德情感时，几乎没有成功的可能。
