Nanotechnologies and global survival

The rapid development of science and technology from the mid-20th century, on one hand, and increasing world population as well as decreasing of natural resources on the other has raised the risk of escalating social conflicts. Regarding this facts, it is inevitable to admit that the future of mankind lies in acceptable moral and social implementation of this technologies. Having that in mind, many questions have been generated about responsible applications of nanotechnologies: about the positive and negative effects of their usage, about patterns of their socio-spatial distribution both at global and national level, about economic development of states who use those technologies, and their possible effect of individual health and biosphere preservation. Regarding those questions, it is necessary to use knowledge of nature science as well as knowledge of philosophy, sociology, etc., in order to analyze the level of development and life conditions in human communities and differentiate between 'mere', 'miserable', 'idealistic', 'irresponsible' and 'acceptable' survival. Starting from sociological context and following Potter’s concepts, this article argues for the concept of consurvivality that is durable, acceptable, sustainable, realistic and global

The myth of the moral enhancement: Back to the future?

This text tries to shed some light on the origin of the idea of moral enhancement, on its epistemic and moral foundations. This requires a comparative analysis of similar ideas present in various trends of bioethics today - the analysis of the very roots of Poter’s global bioethics, the idea of moral enhancement, as well as the break between advocates of moral enhancement and John Harris, their transhumanist colleague, with whom they used to share the same perspective. In this article we identify some basic starting points, similarities and differences between global bioethics and moral enhancement, and draw lines of demarcation between transhumanism and moral enhancement

Procreative ethics of care in the process of in vitro fertilization in Serbia: a culture of giving or a crisis of altruism?

This paper explores the nature and relations between culture, crisis, and the actions of all participants in the process of in vitro fertilization in Serbia. The analysis covers specific parts of the accounts told by the participants — their relationship towards personality traits, e.g. identity, motives, and roles on the one hand, and the image of a good quality of life of the parents, who overcome previous reproductive limitations with the help of biotech fertilization, on the other hand. This paper is also relevant because it provides insight into the crisis that arises from the capability or incapability of receiving or giving excess reproductive material. The aim of the paper is to show what the participants intimately consider as the positive and negative features of artificial conception and procreative altruism. The resolution of this dilemma can be found in participants’ insights on the ethics of care, which, in addition to its epistemic association with altruism, contains a darker side

Liberal eugenics: ideology of "enhancement"

The concept of Liberal eugenics relates to the "enhancement" of human beings through bio-technologies above the limit of health in order to improve the capacities and abilities of healthy people. The basic idea is that parents are offered freedom of choice to choose personal traits of their offspring in order to secure a better quality life for them in the future. However, the existing technological tools have not achieved any major success so far in choosing child’s characteristics. It has been argued that allowing the artificial insemination through bio-technology would be a correct decision, despite the limitations and shortcomings of the technology. It is expected that in the near future the new technologies will enable women to choose their children by being artificially inseminated with a "genetic copy" or a "clone of a genius". According to Nicolas Agar, a strong advocate of the liberal eugenics, the counter-arguments to this concept are rooted in irrationality that is fear, unease and ‘yuck’ towards genetic intervention. Due to their irrationality these arguments should not be taken seriously, Agar argues. However, there are certain social and epistemological implications of Agar’s stance. Are not the irrational fear and moral "yuck" actually a part of typical and normal functioning of the human kind? Does the precision of the reproductive technologies enable freedom of choice regarding the desirable personal traits, or it is a potential tyranny of parents over children and the path to a uniform sexuality? Starting with the assumption that fear and (moral) "queasiness" are important anthropological and socio-cultural elements in social organization, our argument goes further by claiming that they are more than that – a part of the normal human functioning. Moreover, we will emphasize the importance and the meaning of the sexual reproduction, i.e. natural relations and sex in developing social relations. We will argue that the concept of the liberal eugenics would not lead to the reproduction of chosen traits but to the self-reproduction of women which might eventually create an asexual society

Parents' Religious and Secular Perspectives on IVF Planning in Serbia

The social and institutional background of this research can be summarized as the relation between public and governmental policies on the one hand, and the experience of patients and IVF experts on the other. Namely, one third of all pregnancies achieved in state-funded in vitro fertilizations (IVF) obscure some ethical and health issues, especially among patients who abandon the state-funded IVF programme in Serbia. The goal of the current research is to identify, describe and understand ethical and social issues that parents encounter in attempts to fulfil their idea of a sovereign (parental) life through IVF. The method comprised a tri-level analysis based on semi-structured interviews with participants who exhibit personal experiences of basic ethical principles and social and health needs within IVF. The results obtained indicate that all three explored levels of patients' experience build a picture of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) as a means of a sovereign or good (parental) life. However, the cultural image of the fulfilment of expected parental social roles resulted in a denial of autonomy and led to self-abnegation through silent acceptance of unethical practices. There is an overlap of the margins of secular ideas and roles on the one hand, and religiosity on the other, making such consent socially acceptable and more easily explainable. Finally, the conclusion reached is that apparently a decrease in sovereignty of parental decisions causes a loss of trust in state clinics and medical procedures, reduces solidarity (as both a religious and secular social value) and establishes norms and patterns of social injustice and inequality