@article{438140,
      recid = {438140},
      author = {Buchanan, Allen E.,},
      title = {Better than human the promise and perils of enhancing  ourselves / [electronic resource] :},
      publisher = {Oxford University Press,},
      address = {New York :},
      pages = {1 online resource (vi, 199 p.)},
      year = {2011},
      abstract = {Is it right to use biomedical technologies to make us  better than well or even perhaps better than human? Should  we view our biology as fixed or should we try to improve on  it? College students are already taking cognitive  enhancement drugs. The U.S. army is already working to  develop drugs and technologies to produce "super soldiers."  Scientists already know how to use genetic engineering  techniques to enhance the strength and memories of mice and  the application of such technologies to humans is on the  horizon. In Better Than Human, philosopher-bioethicist  Allen Buchanan grapples with the ethical dilemmas of the  biomedical enhancement revolution. Biomedical enhancements  can make us smarter, have better memories, be stronger,  quicker, have more stamina, live much longer, avoid the  frailties of aging, and enjoy richer emotional lives. In  spite of the benefits that biomedical enhancements may  bring, many people instinctively reject them. Some worry  that we will lose something important-our appreciation for  what we have or what makes human beings distinctively  valuable. Others assume that biomedical enhancements will  only be available to the rich, with the result that social  inequalities will worsen. Buchanan shows that the debate  over enhancement has been distorted by false assumptions  and misleading rhetoric. To think clearly about  enhancement, we have to acknowledge that human nature is a  mixed bag and that our species has many "design flaws." We  should be open be open to the possibility of becoming  better than human, while never underestimating the risks  that our attempts to improve may back-fire.},
      url = {http://library.usi.edu/record/438140},
}