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Ethical Transhumanism: How can a nudge approach to public health make human enhancement more ethical?

Robinson, Alexandra Jane (2021) Ethical Transhumanism: How can a nudge approach to public health make human enhancement more ethical? Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) thesis, University of Kent, University of Kent. (doi:10.22024/UniKent/01.02.92731) (KAR id:92731)

Abstract

Transhumanism at once embodies our most modern thinking and our biggest longstanding problems.

Transhumanism aims to enhance human core capacities: health-span, lifespan, and cognition. The thesis answers the following ethical challenges arising from transhumanist aims. First, whether transhumanism can be an ethical endeavour if it relies on authoritarian intervention by governments and governing bodies to change, generate and enforce behaviour, or to influence and enforce the uptake of medical procedures. Second, the thesis answers the challenge that it is unethical deliberately to encourage the uptake of and pursuit of medical transhumanism given the extent of accessibility and distributive issues that remain unresolved in existing medicine. Finally, the thesis addresses a particular mental health crisis that is often predicted for transhuman beings, namely loss of meaning from loss of death and vulnerability, resulting in widespread loss of social cohesion. The thesis argues that the right solution to the first two problems is a libertarian paternalist approach, viz. nudging, and that this approach will also neutralise the risk of widespread and inevitable boredom or alienation that might otherwise result from the widespread introduction of human enhancement if people are nudged to engage more and more reflectively in their enhancement choices. Additionally, lifestyle issues like obesity, heart disease, cancers, and inaccessibility of vaccines and birth control pose unresolved problems for existing general medicine, killing millions every year worldwide. As a result, another serious challenge for enhancement medicine, which I propose would be addressed by the nudge approach, is to justify its place in the professional domain of medicine.

Item Type: Thesis (Doctor of Philosophy (PhD))
Thesis advisor: Kirchin, Simon
Thesis advisor: Ware, Lauren
DOI/Identification number: 10.22024/UniKent/01.02.92731
Uncontrolled keywords: ethics transhumanism nudge
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > B Philosophy (General)
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Arts and Humanities > Department of Philosophy
SWORD Depositor: System Moodle
Depositing User: System Moodle
Date Deposited: 17 Jan 2022 10:10 UTC
Last Modified: 21 Jan 2022 09:18 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/92731 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

Robinson, Alexandra Jane.

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