Pushing Boundaries of Human Enhancement through Cellular Reprogramming By definition, human nature is the different characteristics (thinking, attitude, feelings) created in ourselves by God. Many scholars and philosophers approach the concept of human nature by using different schools of thought. For instance, the Buddhists’ opinion about human nature is to be conscious and to aspire. Whereas Judeo-Christian’s point of view is that humans are God’s creation that has free willpower providing them dignity and ethical danger [1]. Aristotle and Plato are the prominent figures in the western culture whose ideas on human nature became dominant and adapted over time. Plato is a dualist (there is both soul and body) but he emphasized on human soul…
Section 1:- Since a long time humans have sought to make improvements to their life condition in many ways. Historically, these have taken us from creating tools, harnessing external forces and systems, making changes to the environment through the ability to manipulate the material world. However in the 21st century a movement has emerged which sees such changes to humanity as not only desirable but as essential, that is, a vision for the transformation of humanity through technology. ‘Human…
What I have gathered thus far from my time on Earth as well as these first two weeks discussing, “What is Human” is that human nature revolves around pursuits. Some of these pursuits take the form of life-long endeavors, as well as other day-to-day undertakings. I believe engrained in the core of each of these pursuits of varying size is the idea of enhancement in some form. Enhancement seems like a very technical term in this context, but what I mean is that when one comes across something of…
The next objection is based on human autonomy and how enhancement strips the right of that. Our autonomy is based on a personal rule of self that is free from outside opinions or controlling interferences. This idea allows every person to have their own mind set without someone controlling every decision they make. When a child starts to grow up they start to become interested in certain things, whether it is sports or dance or even art. Once the child really becomes their own self they will…
Ever since humans became competitive, there has been a need to surpass each other by gaining advantage over them. Some believed it was possible to acquire the skills and strength of animals or people by consuming their body parts, like eating bull testicles or bathing in the blood of lions. In the 21st century, humanity moved onto Human Enhancement Drugs (HEDs) in the form of pills and chemicals to improve their own attributes. A study performed by Jim McVeigh, Michael Evans-Brown and Mark A.…
Positive illusions are unrealistic, biased attitudes that individuals have about themselves and towards other individuals, normally close friends or family members. Positive illusions is “a perception that represents what is perceived in a way different from the way it is in reality. An illusion is a false mental image or conception which may be a misinterpretation of a real appearance or may be something imagined. It may be pleasing, harmless or even useful (Stein, 1982, p 662). The more…
With these advances in technology and tools there have also been advancements made in the reporting of violation and violation check and double check protocol. According to Deflem and McDonough, the FBI reports any violations that they catch and in the time period of 2003-2005 they reported 26 possible violations of which only 22 were due to the fault of the FBI. A study done two years later by OIG about the same period of time turned up an additional 1,000 possible violations that the FBI…
biological engineering that I will be focusing on deals with enhancing the human race for many advantageous reasons, most important that being to treat diseases. For as long as we can remember scientists have been trying to find treatments for certain diseases in the biotech, pharmaceutical, and medical industry the traditional way. This includes screening, looking at genetic conditions, and then trying to develop a treatment, but this is relatively a slow process. So what if there was another…
define the limitations of genetic enhancements for children in the theories posited by Julian Savulescu (2007) and Michael Sandel (year?). Savulescu (2007) defines some of the overarching responsibility of parents to use whatever means necessary to improve the lives of their children, which is a moral and ethical obligation in the use of genetic enhancements. However, Sandel (year?) countermands this argument by claiming that parents will more likely use genetic enhancement to control the…
several moral problems with genetic enhancement in his article “Genetic Enhancement,” published in Glannon’s book, From Genes and Future people: Philosophical Issues in Human Genetics (and later in Bioethics Principles, Issues, and Cases.) Glannon believes that “gene therapy is permissible if it is intended to ensure or restore normal functions, but it is morally illegitimate if it is aimed at enhancing functions beyond normal.” (577) Glannon, a professor of bioethics and philosophy at the…