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Nanotechnology and Human Flourishing: Toward a Framework for Assessing Radical Human Enhancements

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Emerging Conceptual, Ethical and Policy Issues in Bionanotechnology

Part of the book series: Philosophy and Medicine ((PHME,volume 101))

Any robust human enhancement needs to be assessed according to the risks and costs involved in both pursuing and realizing the enhancement, how it will affect those who are enhanced, how it will affect those who are not, and how it will shape our form of life. These sorts of assessments are often underwritten by beliefs about what constitutes human nature, the human condition, and human flourishing. In this chapter I identify and review these beliefs and the way that they are employed in discussions regarding human enhancements. I then propose a framework for assessing human enhancements that is oriented around human flourishing, rather than human nature.

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Sandler, R. (2008). Nanotechnology and Human Flourishing: Toward a Framework for Assessing Radical Human Enhancements. In: Jotterand, F. (eds) Emerging Conceptual, Ethical and Policy Issues in Bionanotechnology. Philosophy and Medicine, vol 101. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8649-6_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8649-6_14

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-8648-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-8649-6

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