Great Minds Think Different: Preserving Cognitive Diversity in an Age of Gene Editing

It is likely that gene editing technologies will become viable in the current century. As scientists uncover the genetic contribution to personality traits and cognitive styles, parents will face hard choices. Some of these choices will involve trade‐offs from the standpoint of the individual's welfare, while others will involve trade‐offs between what is best for each and what is good for all. Although we think we should generally defer to the informed choices of parents about what kinds of children to create, we argue that decisions to manipulate polygenic psychological traits will be much more ethically complicated than choosing Mendelian traits like blood type. We end by defending the principle of regulatory parsimony, which holds that when legislation is necessary to prevent serious harms, we should aim for simple rules that apply to all, rather than micro‐managing parental choices that shape the traits of their children. While we focus on embryo selection and gene editing, our arguments apply to all powerful technologies which influence the development of children

L’américanité selon Frederick Philip Grove

One debate in contemporary bioethics centers on whether the development of cognitive enhancement technologies (CETs) will hasten the need for moral enhancement. In this article we provide a new argument in favor of pursuing these enhancement technologie

The Uncertainty Principle: The 2017 Australian Foreign Policy White Paper in Historical Context

For governments in Westminster political systems, White Papers are a convenient, formal way to set out for public discussion their policy positions and legislative agendas on significant issues. The 2015 White Paper on agricultural competitiveness and the Defence White Paper of 2016 were recent Australian example

The importance of accurate representation of human brain organoid research

体外で製作されるヒト脳組織について、正確な情報発信の必要性を指摘. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2023-03-30.Representations of brain organoids in the media are often negatively or positively exaggerated without appropriate discussion. Here, we examine two topics (the possibility of consciousness and medical applications) and call on scientists, ethicists, and the media to represent brain organoid research and its ethical issues more accurately

The Ethics of Human Brain Organoid Transplantation in Animals

ヒト脳組織の動物移植に伴う倫理問題を体系化. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2023-10-19.In this paper, we outline how one might conduct a comprehensive ethical evaluation of human brain organoid transplantation in animals. Thus far, ethical concerns regarding this type of research have been assumed to be similar to those associated with other transplants of human cells in animals, and have therefore not received significant attention. The focus has been only on the welfare, moral status, or mental capacities of the host animal. However, the transplantation of human brain organoids introduces several new ethical issues. Many of these are related to uncertainty regarding whether or not brain organoids might be conscious. While these concerns might not be immediately relevant, they warrant closer scrutiny. We discuss how various ethical issues are relevant to different stages of human brain organoid transplantation and can guide the ethical evaluation of research. Our examination would broaden the horizons of the debate on the transplantation of brain organoids

Selecting Against Disability: The Liberal Eugenic Challenge and the Argument from Cognitive Diversity

Selection against embryos that are predisposed to develop disabilities is one of the less controversial uses of embryo selection technologies (ESTs). Many bio-conservatives argue that while the use of ESTs to select for non-disease-related traits, such as height and eye-colour, should be banned, their use to avoid disease and disability should be permitted. Nevertheless, there remains significant opposition, particularly from the disability rights movement, to the use of ESTs to select against disability. In this article we examine whether and why the state could be justified in restricting the use of ESTs to select against disability. We first outline the challenge posed by proponents of ‘liberal eugenics’. Liberal eugenicists challenge those who defend restrictions on the use of ESTs to show why the use of these technologies would create a harm of the type and magnitude required to justify coercive measures. We argue that this challenge could be met by adverting to the risk of harms to future persons that would result from a loss of certain forms of cognitive diversity. We suggest that this risk establishes a pro tanto case for restricting selection against some disabilities, including dyslexia and Asperger's syndrome

The enigmas of Borges, and the enigma of Borges

The 'enigmas' dealt with in Part 1 (Chapters 1-4) are illusory, arising largely from the apparent inability of many of his critics to understand much of Borges' work. However, the discussion of his widely appreciated wit in Chapter 1 shows that this is sometimes the fault of Borges himself. He once proclaimed his intention to conceal the true nature of some of his fictions so that only 'a very few' of his readers should understand them. Fortunately, his attempts at concealment were not always successful; but some of his critics seem to have been misled by them. Chapters 2-4 deal with characteristics that appear to be less widely appreciated. Chapter 2 discusses the importance of Borges' obsession with death; chapter 3 deals with what he called 'the most precious gift, doubt'; and chapter 4 illustrates Borges' humility and his aversion to arrogance; but all three chapters demonstrate that Borges' critics have often failed to acknowledge these characteristics. Chapters 2 and 3 show that many of his poems make clear the importance of some of these factors. Borges regarded himself primarily as a poet, and published many more books of poetry than prose; however, comparatively little attention has been paid to this aspect of his work. Part 2 of the thesis (chapters 5 and 6) deals with the enigma which Borges himself presents. This is no illusion. It stems mainly from some of his seminars, lectures and non-fictional pieces, which are shown to be rife with inaccuracies, contradictions, and poor preparation. They raise many questions about the depth of Borges' learning, and about his academic rigour. Part 1 suggests answers, while Part 2 despairs of answers. A number of the quoted texts were published originally in English; I have no Spanish, and the remaining texts are quoted in translation

Human enhancement and human diversity : the need for a coordinated approach to enhancement technologies

In this thesis I develop a novel perspective on human enhancement and its moral and philosophical implications. I begin by describing the scientific developments that have ignited a debate within bioethics on human enhancement and reviewing the ways in which the concept of enhancement has been analysed in the philosophical literature. I then describe some of the ethical arguments that have been proposed both for and against human enhancement. Human enhancement technologies have the potential to benefit not only individuals, but also human groups - such as our communities and our species. In this thesis I show how these two potential uses of enhancement technologies often conflict. The use of cognitive enhancement technologies to make individuals smarter may reduce our collective ability to solve problems; the use of life extension technologies to increase the lifespan of individuals may reduce the long term persistence of the species; and the use of genetic enhancements to improve individual wellbeing may make society as a whole worse off. In Chapter 1 I argue that the use of genetic enhancement technologies to benefit individuals could reduce valuable forms of genetic diversity and undermine the continued survival of the human species. In Chapter 2 I develop this idea further to show that the rational use of particular reproductive technologies by individuals could have a negative effect on society as a whole, including future generations. I argue this provides a plausible prima facie reason to restrict access to particular enhancement technologies. In Chapter 3 I discuss the use of reproductive technologies to screen against disability. I argue that in some cases the state will have good reason to prevent people from accessing disability screening technologies. This is because some disabilities contribute to valuable forms of human diversity which benefit our populations as a whole. In Chapter 4, I turn my attention to debates regarding cognitive enhancement. I argue that to date the focus of cognitive enhancement has been too narrow. Rather than considering enhancing just the cognitive attributes of individuals we should instead focus on enhancing our collective capacity to solve problems. I suggest this involves enhancing our ability to cooperate with each other as much as it involves changing aspects of our cognition. In my final chapter I discuss life extension technologies. I suggest that radically extending the lifespan of individuals may reduce the adaptability of our populations, and species as a whole, through both genetic and cultural mechanisms. I conclude by arguing for the need to think of human enhancement as a collective enterprise. When individuals use enhancement technologies to alter their traits, they do so in the context of many others having access to the same technologies. In order to secure the greatest benefit for all we need to coordinate our enhancement decisions