Bostrom's Views Of Biotechnology

Biotechnology is a new wave of technologies that has emerged through scientific developments in the previous century, and this new technology offers copious new ways to change how humans live. Biotechnology creates new innovative methods to advance humanity like preventing diseases and producing more food, but also allows for progressions in unscrupulous areas like human cloning. This broad range of applications for biotechnology leads to an ethical dilemma of where to draw the line on helpful versus dangerous advancements. Moreover, the moral question about when to decide that biotechnology has gone too far is one that has been thoroughly examined by a handful of philosophers. This paper works to explain three philosopher’s views on biotechnology,

Unlike Fukuyama, Bostrom believes this essence of humanity remains no matter what form mankind takes— whether the human is biological in a humanoid body, or in the form of a projection of a human. Accordingly, Bostrom does not wish to preserve this biological human essence, but rather, Bostrom believes the policies created should not encroach on the individual freedoms given by liberal democracies. For Bostrom, if a person wants to genetically enhance themselves or their child it is their right to decide, as these enhancements should be up to the individual. Thus, Bostrom considers the main element to preserve during the advancement of biotechnology as an individual human’s right to decision-making without state-intervention. Bostrom plans on preserving this human right of decision-making by limiting government intervention into biotechnology, and leaving the power to decide in the hands of the individual, only allowing government intervention in extreme cases. In closing, Bostrom wants to preserve the human right to choose whether to use biotechnology or not, and he plans on doing this by limiting government intervention.

Janicaud sees humanity as an unstable entity that allows human to go beyond and below their normal level of humanity, with this in mind, Janicaud’s proposes he wants biotechnology to allow humanity to seek out advancements to go above our nature without permitting for the regression to the in-human or the subhuman. So, Janicaud wants to preserve this ability of human transfiguration without letting in the possibility of humanity dropping to subhuman levels, and wants to regulate biotechnology as to preserve this ability of humanity to transfigure along with limiting the ability to regress. Janicaud’s plan for the preservation of possible human transfiguration is allowing some but not all biotechnologies. Janicaud sees biotechnology as a way to advance to a possible transfigured human that goes beyond our current biological state, moreover, by adding limitations to biotechnology, Janicaud aims to restrict possible ‘advancements’ that could lead to subhuman individuals below current humans. Accordingly, Janicaud wants to preserve the ability for a human to transfigure beyond current humanity without regressing to a subhuman, and he plans on doing this by enacting moderate regulations on biotechnology that neither entirely ban nor allow all biotechnologies.