Enhancement
Ausgabe: 4/2006
52. Jahrgang
Biomedizin als Jungbrunnen? Zur ethischen Debatte über künftige Optionen der Verlangsamung des Alterns
The option of dramatically slowing human aging and extending maximum life expectancy would fundamentally alter the conditions of our lives. Such an option would satisfy a desire that has frequently been expressed in human history and has been given fresh impetus by the results of various recent experiments conducted on animals in the field of biogerontology. Among the various scenarios which are the aim of so-called »enhancement« this particular option has the advantage that it does not serve a specific conception of happiness, but may instead improve the fundamental conditions for realising differing individual life plans. In its discussion of the ethical arguments for and against this goal, the paper limits itself to aspects of individual ethics. Social-ethical considerations will, however, acquire greater weight if the analysis from the standpoint of individual ethics arrives at an unambiguously positive assessment.
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