Genetic Enhancement of Human Beings: Reality or Fiction?

2013 ◽  
pp. 63-70
Author(s):  
Annemiek Nelis ◽  
Danielle Posthuma
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Enhancement ◽  
Human Beings

In Defense of the ‘Human Prejudice’

2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-38
Author(s):  
Tatiana Patrone
Keyword(s):  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Genetic Enhancement ◽  
Bernard Williams ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Relevant Fact ◽  
Species Membership

Those who favor genetic enhancement of human beings (‘trans-humanists’) tend to hold that there is nothing special about being human, if by ‘human’ people mean ‘being member of the species homo sapiens’. They reject the arguments of bio-conservatives as prejudicial toward the concept of humanity, and they argue that species-membership in general is morally irrelevant. In ‘The Human Prejudice’, Bernard Williams defends what he calls ‘humanism’ (and what others call ‘speciesism’) and argues that species-membership is a morally relevant fact about us. Williams’s argument has been criticized by many, and in this paper, the author, focuses on the most thorough attack by Julian Savulescu. They provide a diagnosis of why accounts such as his seem to be so misguided to trans-humanists (like Savulescu) and the author then defend Williams’s account. In short, the paper argues that there is nothing obviously wrong with being a speciesist.

scholarly journals 儒家生命倫理對基因改造的倫理辯護與批判

2015 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-68
Author(s):  
Tao LIU
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Engineering ◽  
Human Nature ◽  
Genetic Enhancement ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Ethical Implications ◽  
Playing God ◽  
Digital Commons ◽  
Confucian Thought ◽  
Moral Relationship ◽  
Traditional Understanding

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract also in English.本文在考察西方學者對基因改造倫理爭議的基礎上，發掘儒家生命倫理對基因改造倫理所具有的辯護與批判功能。筆者認為，孔子提出的仁愛思想和孟子提出的不傷害原則，可以為基因治療進行倫理辯護。《周易》、《中庸》、《荀子》等儒家經典提出的天道觀及其對天人關係的闡釋，可以為體細胞基因增強提供倫理辯護。儘管如此，儒家生命倫理卻難以對生殖細胞基因增強進行倫理辯護，基因改造在現實推行過程中會產生一系列複雜的新問題。基因改造的問題需要運用儒家倫理對其進行反思和批判，在此基礎上找出合乎儒家倫理精神訴求的解決之道。Many people feel that genetic engineering, particularly genetic enhancement, has disrupted the traditional understanding of the distinction between choice and chance and its ethical implications. Scholars in the West have strongly objected to scientists’ “playing God” on the grounds that genetic engineering devalues human beings and contravenes intrinsic ethical principles. What is the traditional Confucian view of genetic engineering? The author contends that certain aspects of Confucian thought support the idea of genetic engineering. For instance, Confucian scholars do not define human nature (renxing) as fixed, let alone biologically fixed. The Confucian understanding of human nature as processual offers an ethical foundation for arguments in favor of genetic enhancement: specifically, there is no reason to believe that we as humans cannot or should not exceed the limitations imposed by our biological nature.Among the possible applications of genetic enhancement are the radical extension of the human health-span, the eradication of disease, the elimination of unnecessary suffering, and the augmentation of humans’ intellectual, physical, and emotional capacities. The author shows that although classical Confucianism does not directly address these modern scientific and technological issues, relevant arguments can be found within the Confucian tradition. For example, Xunzi’s account of humans’ “active relationship” (wei) with non-human nature suggests that conscious effort is required for human beings to build a moral relationship with the world. The author points out that the emphasis placed on “active participation” by Xunzi and other subsequent Confucians marks a departure from the Daoist commitment to passivity, as explicated by Zhuangzi. For Confucians, renxing is expressed through the human wei. It can thus be inferred that Confucianism does not reject the notion of genetic choice. However, the author also explains why Confucians may be cautious about or even critical of certain enhancement practices.DOWNLOAD HISTORY | This article has been downloaded 737 times in Digital Commons before migrating into this platform.

scholarly journals 儒化中醫哲學與當代基因改造人性道德爭論

2008 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 147-179
Author(s):  
Ping Cheung LO
Keyword(s):  
High Technology ◽  
Genetic Enhancement ◽  
Francis Bacon ◽  
Modern Time ◽  
Human Intervention ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Science Technology ◽  
Digital Commons ◽  
Ming And Qing Dynasties ◽  
Philosophical Writings

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract also in English.當代世界其中一個重大道德爭議是，以基因科技改造人性應否進行。一些平常學術著作不討論這類問題的西方哲學家（如Habermas, Fukuyama, Sandel）也紛紛加入討論，可見這問題的劃時代重要性。本文希望透過整理及分析傳統中國思想來看這個道德爭議。直到今天，傳統中醫並不依賴高科技。其中一個原因是《黃帝內經》中的“人與天地相應”這基本看法。然而，醫治病人始終是一個人為行動，而非天地自然所為。如何在一個強調人配合天工的思維框架中為醫者的人工行為辯護，是明清時期不少醫學哲學所討論的議題。《黃帝內經》原與《周易》及《老子》皆有相通之處，到明清時期，由於儒醫的大量出現，及朱子理學的官學地位，很多儒化（理學化）的中醫哲學便冒現。透過“人補造化”、“人補天之缺陷”、“人補天功”、“人挽回天”等新瓶，承載《中庸》的人參贊天地化育的舊酒。本文會嘗試說明這個中醫哲學的天人觀，蘊涵支持基因科技的治療用途，但不蘊涵支持基因科技的優生用途。本文的用意並非要提供一個決定性或最終的論證，終極地反駁所有贊成基因改造人性的論證。本文所起的作用，只在提供一個非西方式的思考方法，以傳統儒化中醫哲學為資源，協助人類以多元文化角度思考當代重大道德爭議。Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), even in modern time, does not rely on high technology. This is partly due to TCM's worldview in which the oneness of human beings with nature is of paramount importance. But this non-reliance on high technology does not prevent TCM thinkers from recognizing that healing is still an artificial act. A philosophical justification for this artif iciality within the worldview of human-nature oneness is needed. Such philosophical justifications became more frequent in the Confucianized medicine manuals of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368-1644, 1644-1911 C.E.). This paper surveys and analyzes these seldom-discussed medical-philosophical writings and attempts to articulate a representative Confucian philosophical justif ication for“ human intervention into nature” in the practice of TCM. Both the necessity and the moral limits of this intervention will be noted. I shall then argue that such a worldview of“ limited human intervention into nature” is significantly different from that of the modern West since Francis Bacon, which informs some contemporary Western enthusiastic advocates of the genetic enhancement of human beings. This model will then serve illustrating an Asian way of thinking about science, technology, and values which is very different from a predominant Western paradigm.DOWNLOAD HISTORY | This article has been downloaded 368 times in Digital Commons before migrating into this platform.

Rate of Absorption of Water from Stomach and Small Bowel of Human Beings

1954 ◽  
Vol 27 (5) ◽  
pp. 565-577 ◽  
Author(s):  
John F. Scholer ◽  
Charles F. Code
Keyword(s):  
Small Bowel ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Rate Of Absorption

A Study of the Action of Prostigmine on the Bowel of Human Beings

1949 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 970-977 ◽  
Author(s):  
John M. McMahon ◽  
Charles F. Code ◽  
Willtam G. Saver ◽  
J. Arnold Bargen
Keyword(s):  
Human Beings

Constructing and Deconstructing Concepts

2016 ◽  
Vol 63 (5) ◽  
pp. 249-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles A. Doan ◽  
Ronaldo Vigo
Keyword(s):  
Information Theory ◽  
Model Performance ◽  
Unsupervised Classification ◽  
Family Resemblance ◽  
Category Membership ◽  
Formal Models ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
One Dimensional ◽  
Relational Patterns ◽  
Optimal Classification

Abstract. Several empirical investigations have explored whether observers prefer to sort sets of multidimensional stimuli into groups by employing one-dimensional or family-resemblance strategies. Although one-dimensional sorting strategies have been the prevalent finding for these unsupervised classification paradigms, several researchers have provided evidence that the choice of strategy may depend on the particular demands of the task. To account for this disparity, we propose that observers extract relational patterns from stimulus sets that facilitate the development of optimal classification strategies for relegating category membership. We conducted a novel constrained categorization experiment to empirically test this hypothesis by instructing participants to either add or remove objects from presented categorical stimuli. We employed generalized representational information theory (GRIT; Vigo, 2011b , 2013a , 2014 ) and its associated formal models to predict and explain how human beings chose to modify these categorical stimuli. Additionally, we compared model performance to predictions made by a leading prototypicality measure in the literature.

Behavioral Testing of Mice Concerning Anxiety and Depression

2015 ◽  
Vol 223 (3) ◽  
pp. 151-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Schweinfurth ◽  
Undine E. Lang
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Influences ◽  
Sickness Behavior ◽  
Laboratory Research ◽  
Anxiety And Depression ◽  
Housing Conditions ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Behavioral Testing ◽  
New Developments ◽  
Animal Trials ◽  
Resilience Factors

Abstract. In the development of new psychiatric drugs and the exploration of their efficacy, behavioral testing in mice has always shown to be an inevitable procedure. By studying the behavior of mice, diverse pathophysiological processes leading to depression, anxiety, and sickness behavior have been revealed. Moreover, laboratory research in animals increased at least the knowledge about the involvement of a multitude of genes in anxiety and depression. However, multiple new possibilities to study human behavior have been developed recently and improved and enable a direct acquisition of human epigenetic, imaging, and neurotransmission data on psychiatric pathologies. In human beings, the high influence of environmental and resilience factors gained scientific importance during the last years as the search for key genes in the development of affective and anxiety disorders has not been successful. However, environmental influences in human beings themselves might be better understood and controllable than in mice, where environmental influences might be as complex and subtle. The increasing possibilities in clinical research and the knowledge about the complexity of environmental influences and interferences in animal trials, which had been underestimated yet, question more and more to what extent findings from laboratory animal research translate to human conditions. However, new developments in behavioral testing of mice involve the animals’ welfare and show that housing conditions of laboratory mice can be markedly improved without affecting the standardization of results.

Behavioral Periodicity: I. Bibliography of Literature Pertaining to Human Beings

1964 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Greenwood ◽  
Benjamin B. Weybrew
Keyword(s):  
Human Beings
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