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Nick Bostrom

Human Enhancement 1st Edition

by Julian Savulescu (Editor), Nick Bostrom (Editor)

4.5 23 ratings

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To what extent should we use technology to try to make better human beings? Because of the remarkable advances in biomedical science, we must now find an answer to this question.

Human enhancement aims to increase human capacities above normal levels. Many forms of human enhancement are already in use. Many students and academics take cognition enhancing drugs to get a competitive edge. Some top athletes boost their performance with legal and illegal substances. Many an office worker begins each day with a dose of caffeine. This is only the beginning. As science and technology advance further, it will become increasingly possible to enhance basic human capacities to increase or modulate cognition, mood, personality, and physical performance, and to control the biological processes underlying normal aging. Some have suggested that such advances would take us beyond the bounds of human nature.

These trends, and these dramatic prospects, raise profound ethical questions. They have generated intense public debate and have become a central topic of discussion within practical ethics. Should we side with bioconservatives, and forgo the use of any biomedical interventions aimed at enhancing human capacities? Should we side with transhumanists and embrace the new opportunities? Or should we perhaps plot some middle course?

Human Enhancement presents the latest moves in this crucial debate: original contributions from many of the world's leading ethicists and moral thinkers, representing a wide range of perspectives, advocates and sceptics, enthusiasts and moderates. These are the arguments that will determine how humanity develops in the near future.

ISBN-10

0199299722
ISBN-13

978-0199299720
Edition

1st
Publisher

Oxford University Press
Publication date

March 25, 2009
Language

English
Dimensions

9.3 x 1.2 x 6.1 inches
Print length

416 pages
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Editorial Reviews

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"As an anthology Human Enhancement is bound to be indispensable for anyone is interested in the subject. This collection of essays could be a beginner's first reference guide to the subject, since all essays are brief, engaging, and focused. At the same time, both advanced students and instructors will find the volume intellectually challenging and rewarding, since the essays reveal the complexity of each angle of enhancement and address these numerous angles in depth. In short, Human Enhancement is a must for anyone who is thinking about the moral status of bioengineering, and bioethics in general." --Metapsychology

About the Author

Julian Savulescu is Uehiro Chair in Practical Ethics, Director of the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, and Director of the Program on Ethics and the New Biosciences in the 21st Century School, University of Oxford

Nick Bostrom is Director of the Future of Humanity Institute at the University of Oxford. He previously taught at Yale University in the Department of Philosophy and in the Yale Institute for Social and Policy Studies.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press; 1st edition (March 25, 2009)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 416 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0199299722
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0199299720
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.74 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.3 x 1.2 x 6.1 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,279,796 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,214 in Medical Ethics (Books)
- #7,974 in History & Philosophy of Science (Books)
- #8,203 in Philosophy of Ethics & Morality

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4.5 23 ratings

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Nick Bostrom

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Nick Bostrom is a Swedish-born philosopher and polymath with a background in theoretical physics, computational neuroscience, logic, and artificial intelligence, as well as philosophy. He is a Professor at Oxford University, where he leads the Future of Humanity Institute as its founding director. (The FHI is a multidisciplinary university research center; it is also home to the Center for the Governance of Artificial Intelligence and to teams working on AI safety, biosecurity, macrostrategy, and various other technology or foundational questions.) He is the author of some 200 publications, including Anthropic Bias (2002), Global Catastrophic Risks (2008), Human Enhancement (2009), and Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies (2014), a New York Times bestseller which helped spark a global conversation about artificial intelligence. Bostrom’s widely influential work, which traverses philosophy, science, ethics, and technology, has illuminated the links between our present actions and long-term global outcomes, thereby casting a new light on the human condition.

He is recipient of a Eugene R. Gannon Award, and has been listed on Foreign Policy’s Top 100 Global Thinkers list twice. He was included on Prospect’s World Thinkers list, the youngest person in the top 15. His writings have been translated into 28 languages, and there have been more than 100 translations and reprints of his works. He is a repeat TED speaker and has done more than 2,000 interviews with television, radio, and print media. As a graduate student he dabbled in stand-up comedy on the London circuit, but he has since reconnected with the doom and gloom of his Swedish roots.

For more, see www.nickbostrom.com

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ILoveCarlSagan

Transhumanism

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 13, 2013

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Very good collection of essays. I like the idea of contrasting ideas in a single book, and Savulescu does just that. Oh, and his is one of the excellent essays in this.
Anyone interested in the sociological, moral and technological implications of the merge of humans and machines should have a peek at these essays.

2 people found this helpful

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Peter McCluskey

A few valuable ideas near the end

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 10, 2009

This book starts out with relatively uninteresting articles and only the last quarter of so of it is worth reading.

Because I agree with most of the arguments for enhancement, I skipped some of the pro-enhancement arguments and tried to read the anti-enhancement arguments carefully. They mostly boil down to the claim that people's preference for natural things is sufficient to justify broad prohibitions on enhancing human bodies and human nature. That isn't enough of an argument to deserve as much discussion as it gets.

A few of the concerns discussed by advocates of enhancement are worth more thought. The question of whether unenhanced humans would retain political equality and rights enables us to imagine dystopian results of enhancement. Daniel Walker provides a partly correct analysis of conditions under which enhanced beings ought to paternalistically restrict the choices and political power of the unenhanced. But he's overly complacent about assuming the paternalists will have the interests of the unenhanced at heart. The biggest problem with paternalism to date is that it's done by people who are less thoughtful about the interests of the people they're controlling than they are about finding ways to serve their own self-interest. It is possible that enhanced beings will be perfect altruists, but it is far from being a natural consequence of enhancement.

The final chapter points out the risks of being overconfident of our ability to improve on nature. They describe questions we should ask about why evolution would have produced a result that is different from what we want. One example that they give suggests they remain overconfident - they repeat a standard claim about the human appendix being a result of evolution getting stuck in a local optimum. Recent evidence suggests that the appendix performs a valuable function in recovery from diarrhea (still a major cause of death in places) and harm from appendicitis seems rare outside of industrialized nations (maybe due to differences in dietary fiber?).

The most new and provocative ideas in the book have little to do with the medical enhancements that the title evokes. Robin Hanson's call for mechanisms to make people more truthful probably won't gather much support, as people are clever about finding objections to any specific method that would be effective. Still, asking the question the way he does may encourage some people to think more clearly about their goals.

Nick Bostrom and Anders Sandberg describe an interesting (original?) hypothesis about why placebos (sometimes) work. It involves signaling that there is relatively little need to conserve the body's resources for fighting future injuries and diseases. Could this understanding lead to insights about how to more directly and reliably trigger this effect? More effective placebos have been proposed. Why is it so unusual to ask about serious research into this subject?

16 people found this helpful

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Chidi M Chileke

It addresses a very important topic

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 12, 2019

Verified Purchase

Really needed book

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Virginia Adams O'Connell

Terrific read

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 20, 2013

Verified Purchase

Wonderful collection of writing about human enhancement--thoughtful and thought-provoking. Authors engage in a cross-chapter dialogue which is enjoyable. Great addition.

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WC Quick

A ho-hum not so scientific argument regarding human enhancement issues

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 21, 2014

Verified Purchase

I guess being a college philosophy text, it can argue the morality of what is already happening to any human that can afford to modify his or her mental or physical condition. I was not so much impressed with the reality of the issues the book implies but the fuel for science fiction is fabulous.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 11, 2020

Very boring

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 30, 2018

I'd like to purchase this book for Kindle, Nick, but it is ridiculously expensive. Kindle books should be less than $9.99. I bought your 'Superintelligence' and enjoyed it.

One person found this helpful

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TOMASZ MAMELKA

x

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 20, 2014

Verified Purchase

Just one word: very good!!!

Käufer

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 30, 2015

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All optimal

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