How to Build a Better Human: An Ethical Blueprint

(Paperback)

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Medicine has recently discovered spectacular tools for human enhancement. Yet to date, it has failed to use them well, in part because of ethical objections. Meanwhile, covert attempts flourish to enhance with steroids, mind-enhancing drugs, and cosmetic surgeryall largely unstudied scientifically. The little success to date has been sporadic and financed privately. In How to Build a Better Human, prominent bioethicist Gregory E. Pence argues that people, if we are careful and ethical, can use genetics, biotechnology, and medicine to improve ourselves, and that we should publicly study what people are doing covertly. Pence believes that we need to transcend the two common frame stories of bioethics: bioconservative alarmism and uncritical enthusiasm, and that bioethics should become part of the solutionnot the problemin making better humans.

Reviews

Human enhancement is an important topic. However, too many authors dwell on improbable scenarios, such as genetic engineering of super-babies. By contrast, this book tackles the real ethical dilemmas that our society faces today. Is it wrong for healthy college students to boost academic performance with Ritalin and similar drugs Is increased longevity a bane or a boon How can simple interventions like good nutrition and vaccinations produce children who are not only healthier but smarter Professor Gregory Pence uses science, logic, and ethics to analyze these and many other topics. Along the way, he explains why we need not fear designer babies and other Brave New World scenarios. Legislators and other policymakers should read this timely and fascinating book so that they will know what to regulateand what to leave alone -- Kerry Lynn Macintosh, Santa Clara University
From Frankenstein to GATTACA innovative biomedical technologies have been portrayed as bogeymen and dystopias. Bringing commonsense to bear on subjects often misrepresented by enthusiasts and alarmists, bioethics professor Gregory Pence, author of Whose Afraid of Human Cloning, clarifies the science and dispels the hype and paranoia surrounding the bioethics of everyday life. He offered reasonable answers to such questions as: Should I use life extending medical or mind enhancing drugs Is there anything wrong with extending peoples' lives Should I vaccinate my children Is it OK to take anti-depressants Is there something to fear from the new genetics or from stem cell research How to Build a Better Human provides astute and invaluable advice on these issues and is without a doubt the best "How To" book ever published in bioethics. -- Robert Baker, Union Graduate College, FiT Publishing
Gregory E. Pence has managed to wed nuance, rigor and wit in the service of one of the thorniest issues in bioethics. The debate over human enhancement is too often shaped by ideologues and zealots and too infrequently informed by the kind of thoughtful and enjoyableanalysis found in How to Build a Better Human. -- Kenneth W. Goodman, University of Miami

Author Bio

Gregory E. Pence, is a professor of philosophy at the University of Alabama and an expert in medical ethics, is the author or editor of numerous books on bioethics including, Medical Ethics, Elements of Bioethics, Whos Afraid of Human Cloning, and Cloning After Dolly.