Human Enhancement Technologies and Democratic Citizenship

Research output: A Conference proceeding or a Chapter in BookChapter

Abstract

This chapter articulates that scholars write about Human Enhancement Technologies (HET) in two ways. This is not a reflection of a reality in the literature but rather a heuristic designed to contextualize democratic citizenship within contemporary HET discussions. The first way is to write about HET as possible realities far off into the future. The second way is to write about HET that can be realised seemingly as soon as tomorrow. For democratic citizenship, writing in the first case is either utopian or dystopian. It is either the projection of democracy's total triumph or its utter collapse caused by the type of rots that lead to democide. But writing in the second case is stimulating and vibrant. There are, for example, numerous calls for HET-led reforms in the literature. These reforms are needed to help answer the crisis of the citizen's august discontent (the growing and increasingly legitimized political apathy and political abstention observed in, and performed by, the citizenry). The purpose of this chapter is to focus on this second case-this more developed body of literature-and to theorise the interface between democratic citizenship and HET.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationGlobal Issues and Ethical Considerations in Human Enhancement Technologies
EditorsSteven John Thompson
Place of PublicationHershey
PublisherIGI Global
Chapter10
Pages176-190
Number of pages15
ISBN (Electronic)9781466660113
ISBN (Print)1466660104, 9781466660106
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2014

Publication series

NameGlobal Issues and Ethical Considerations in Human Enhancement Technologies

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