Practical Ethics

Is it Worth Living Longer?

Research recently published in Nature suggests that the drug rapamycin may have the potential to extend human life span by decades: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8139816.stm

If the life is of ‘positive’ value, it might seem obvious that the drug is worth taking. But not everyone would agree. The Hellenistic philosopher Epicurus famously argued that, since it marks the end of conscious life, ‘death nothing to us’. Fearing death makes as much sense as regretting you weren’t around for all that time before your birth.

Jackson, Enhancement and the American Dream

What can we learn from Michael Jackson's tragic premature death? The autopsy will be performed later today which may reveal the immediate cause of death. But whatever the immediate medical cause of death, the ultimate cause is clear: death by social malfunctioning.

Self-control matters - but to what extent can it be taught?

Recently in the news, a report published by the independent think-tank Demos reminds us of the importance of the capacity for self-control (it also mentions empathy, to which most of the following remarks apply) in determining life outcomes. It argues that self-control lessons should be taught at school if children, particularly from deprived backgrounds, are to be given the tools they need to succeed in life – low-self-control has for instance been shown to positively correlate with length of unemployment or criminal behaviour, and negatively with academic achievement. The report echoes renewed interest in the United States in a now famous experiment by Walter Mischel on deferred gratification, dating back to the late 1960s. Mischel tested the capacity of a group of four-year olds to resist the temptation to eat straightaway a marshmallow he had given them. The children who were able to refrain turned out to be better adjusted, more dependable and to do better academically on the whole later in life.

 

The report by Demos makes important points and its proposals deserve to be supported. Nevertheless, even if they are put into practice, we might still feel concerned about how effective we can expect them to be. There is indeed a body of evidence suggesting that the capacity for self-control is to a large extent genetically determined (Wright & Beaver, 2005; Beaver & al., 2009).

 

Is doodling a form of cheating?

The public often complains about the fluctuating and conflicting attitudes of scientists.  So often do things heralded as good for us one week turn out to be deadly the next (consider, for example, this recent report about vitamin pills) that there seems little point in trying to follow the advice of scientists.  

Some recent news stories raise the question of whether the public is inclined to dismiss the conflicting views of ethicists, too.  Ethical concerns about pharmacological cognitive enhancement have regularly been reported in the press (see, for example, here, here, and here); whilst at the same time—as Dominic Wilkinson has noted on this blog—the public has embraced non-pharmacological cognitive enhancement in the form of software designed to improve brain power, and the media currently abounds with docile, non-panicky reports of how instant messaging, texting, taking short naps, taking long naps, listening to The Beatles, and doodling can all enhance cognition in various ways.  So far, there have been no reports of ethical concerns about these activities: nobody is suggesting that students who doodle during lectures are cheating.  It seems that, despite the concerns of some, the public is willing to embrace cognitive enhancement in a variety of forms.

Brain training and cognitive enhancement

If you were offered a treatment that claimed to be able to improve your memory and creativity, enhance neuroplasticity and increase cognitive ability, and prevent later cognitive decline would you take it? Many people would – at least if the recent popularity of computer-based brain-training exercises is anything to go by. Programs claiming to be able to do some or all of the above have been at the top of software charts for the last couple of years, and have sold millions of copies. Research published today in the consumer magazine ‘Which?’ pours cold water on the claims of the brain trainer manufacturers. The research concludes that there is very weak evidence that these exercises actually work.

The Lost Genius objection to pre-natal testing for autism

In an opinion piece on the BBC website this week Professor Simon Baron-Cohen has questioned the wisdom of adopting pre-natal screening for autism, raising the possibility that it would prevent the existence of future great mathematicians. This is a variant of a common objection to pre-natal testing or to genetic enhancement.

Why boost brains?

Reuters reports: Brain-boosting drugs: why not?, experts say (various follow ups in different media). The story is based on an opinion article in Nature, where a number of medical, legal and philosophical researchers argue that society must respond to the growing demand for cognitive enhancement. How and why should society respond?

Keeping Viagra in the bedchamber and out of the arena?

Viagra may not just be a performance enhancer in the bedroom, but also on the sports arena. Researchers are studying whether it helps dilate athlete's blood vessels and improve their oxygen-carrying capacity. If it is found to improve performance it will likely be put it on the list of banned substances for athletes. But should it? 

Compulsory chemical castration for sex offenders

A month ago, the Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, called for the introduction of forced chemical castration for sex offenders. The call followed a particularly nasty case of incest and paedophilia in the country: a 45 year old man was found to have sexually abused his 21-year-old daughter over a period of six years, and to have fathered two children by her. A poll showed that 84% of the Polish population supported the Prime Minister's proposal, however many commentators condemned it as an affront to human rights. In response, the Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, claimed that the sex offenders he has in mind cannot be described as human beings, and therefore have no human rights (see here). Nevertheless, high level opposition has forced the government to replace the proposal with a plan for voluntary chemical castration, which is already allowed in Great Britain, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, and some US states. 

It is interesting to compare the claims that have been made for and against Mr Tusk's proposal with those that we might expect to surround alternative proposals for reducing rates of re-offending among sex offenders. Suppose the Prime Minister had instead suggested the introduction of a compulsory education programme for sex offenders in which they would be forced to confront the devastating effects that their actions can have on their victims. It is difficult to imagine such a proposal being greeted with the claim that it breaches human rights. And it is also hard to imagine the proponents of such a programme resorting to the claim that sex offenders aren't human. Instead, the debate would probably focus on weighing the costs and benefits of the proposed programme.

Can these differing responses be justified? Is there any good reason to think that compulsory chemical castration is a matter of human rights, while compulsory re-education is not?

Preimplantation Genetic Screening: One Step Closer to the Perfect Baby?

Prospective parents will be able to screen embryos for almost any known genetic disease using a revolutionary “universal test” developed by British scientists, led by Prof Alan Handyside 
The £1,500 test, called karyomapping, which should be available as early as next year, will allow couples at risk of passing on gene defects to conceive healthy children using IVF treatment.  The “genetic MoT” will transform the range of inherited disorders that can be detected. Currently only 2% of the 15,000 known genetic conditions can be detected in this way. Not only can it test for muscular dystrophy, cystic fibrosis and Huntington's disease, but it can be used for testing for the risk of developing heart disease, cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer's in later life.