Human Dignity and Bioethics

302 | Leon R. Kass
growth hormone to make children taller; pre-implantation genetic
screening to facilitate eugenic choice (now to rule out defects, soon
to rule in assets); Ritalin and other stimulants to control behavior
or boost performance on exams; Prozac and other drugs to brighten
moods and alter temperaments—not to mention Botox, Viagra, and
anabolic steroids. Looking ahead, other invitations are already visible
on the horizon: Drugs to erase painful or shameful memories or to
simulate falling in love. Genes to increase the size and strength of
muscles. Nano-mechanical implants to enhance sensation or motor
skills. Techniques to slow biological aging and increase the maximum
human lifespan. Thanks to these and other innovations, venerable
human desires—for better children, superior performance, ageless
bodies, and happy souls—may increasingly be satisfied with the aid
of biotechnology. A new field of “transhumanist” science is rallying
thought and research for wholesale redesign of human nature, employing
genetic and neurological engineering and man-machine hybrids,
en route to what has been blithely called a “posthuman future.”
Neither the familiar principles of contemporary bioethics—respect
for persons, beneficence (or “non-maleficence”), and justice—
nor our habitual concerns for safety, efficacy, autonomy, and equal
access will enable us to assess the true promise and peril of the biotechnology
revolution. Our hopes for self-improvement and our disquiet
about a “posthuman” future are much more profound. At stake
are the kind of human being and the sort of society we will be creating
in the coming age of biotechnology. At stake are the dignity of
the human being—including the dignity or worth of human activity,
human relationships, and human society—and the nature of human
flourishing.
To be sure, the biotechnological revolution may, as the optimists
believe, serve to enhance human dignity. It may enable more and
more people to realize the American dream of liberty, prosperity, and
justice for all. It may enable many more human beings—biologically
better-equipped, aided by performance-enhancers, liberated from
the constraints of nature and fortune—to live lives of achievement,
contentment, and high self-esteem, come what may.
But there are reasons to wonder whether life will really be better if
we turn to biotechnology to fulfill our deepest human desires. There
is an old expression: to a man armed with a hammer, everything