Historical and Philosophical Reflections on Natural, Enhanced and Artificial Men and Women

Abstract

This chapter considers human engineering from a historical and philosophical perspective. Engineering suggests artificiality and thereby takes us to the issue of ‘nature versus nurture’. Must any intervention in natural growth and development patterns be considered ‘artificial’? Humans belong to a domesticated species, and the notion that human beings are shaped through both their biological heritage and their upbringing is as old as Western thought itself. Ideas about the manufacturing of humans—homunculi, golems or Frankensteins—remained usually in the sphere of pure speculation. Only in the twentieth century was the old suggestion, first formulated by Plato, that it would be profitable to breed humans like cattle first translated into political measures, as a consequence of social Darwinist ideas. Historically, we find ourselves in a unique position because we are, for the first time, able to change the human body through technological means. While many current practices can still be defined as therapeutic interventions, as genetics and artificial intelligence are further developed, the ethical issues involved in their application will inevitably become more complex. It is of great importance that before science and technology present us with unpleasant choices, society itself, as well as legislators and scientists, should determine where to draw the line between desirable and undesirable modifications of human nature.

Translated by Samuel van Kiel.