Cognitive neuroenhancement: false assumptions in the ethical debate (original) (raw)
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Pharmacological cognitive enhancement—how neuroscientific research could advance ethical debate
Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience, 2014
There are numerous ways people can improve their cognitive capacities: good nutrition and regular exercise can produce long-term improvements across many cognitive domains, whilst commonplace stimulants such as coffee temporarily boost levels of alertness and concentration. Effects like these have been well-documented in the medical literature and they raise few (if any) ethical issues. More recently, however, clinical research has shown that the off-label use of some pharmaceuticals can, under certain conditions, have modest cognition-improving effects. Substances such as methylphenidate and modafinil can improve capacities such as working memory and concentration in some healthy individuals. Unlike their more mundane predecessors, these methods of “cognitive enhancement” are thought to raise a multitude of ethical issues. This paper presents the six principal ethical issues raised in relation to pharmacological cognitive enhancers (PCEs)—issues such as whether: (1) the medical safety-profile of PCEs justifies restricting or permitting their elective or required use; (2) the enhanced mind can be an “authentic” mind; (3) individuals might be coerced into using PCEs; (4), there is a meaningful distinction to be made between the treatment vs. enhancement effect of the same PCE; (5) unequal access to PCEs would have implications for distributive justice; and (6) PCE use constitutes cheating in competitive contexts. In reviewing the six principal issues, the paper discusses how neuroscientific research might help advance the ethical debate. In particular, the paper presents new arguments about the contribution neuroscience could make to debates about justice, fairness, and cheating, ultimately concluding that neuroscientific research into “personalized enhancement” will be essential if policy is to be truly informed and ethical. We propose an “ethical agenda” for neuroscientific research into PCEs.
The Ethics of Neuroenhancement
International Journal of Technoethics, 2015
According to several recent studies, a big chunk of college students in North America and Europe uses so called ‘smart drugs’ to enhance their cognitive capacities aiming at improving their academic performance. With these practices, there comes a certain moral unease. This unease is shared by many, yet it is difficult to pinpoint and in need of justification. Other than simply pointing to the medical risks coming along with using non-prescribed medication, the salient moral question is whether these practices are troubling in and of themselves. In due consideration of empirical insights into the concrete effects of smart drugs on brain and behavior, our attempt is to articulate wherein this moral unease consists and to argue for why the authors believe cognitive enhancement to be morally objectionable. The authors will contend that the moral problem with these practices lies less in the end it seeks, than in the underlying human disposition it expresses and promotes. Some might ask, what is wrong with molding our cognitive capacities to achieve excellence, get a competitive edge, or, as the whim takes us? In all of these occasions, the usage of smart drugs serves a certain goal, a telos. The goal is, broadly speaking, this: outsmarting opponents in an arms race for limited resources and thereby yielding a competitive edge. In plain words: competition is valued higher than cooperation or solidarity. What is wrong with striving for this goal? The authors submit that the question whether people really want to live in a society that promotes the mentality ‘individual competition over societal cooperation’ deserves serious consideration. In developing their answer, the authors draw on an ‘Ethics of Constraint’ framework, arguing that widespread off-label use of smart drugs bears the risk of negative neural/behavioral consequences for the individual that might, in the long run, be accompanied by changing social value orientations for the worse.
Deflating the Neuroenhancement Bubble
AJOB Neuroscience, 2011
This article questions the evidence base for some commonly accepted assumptions among bioethicists about the prevalence of neuroenhancement among college students and the degree to which putative neuroenhancers in fact enhance cognitive functioning. We argue that the evidence on the prevalence of stimulant drug use does not support bioethicists' claims that neuroenhancement use of these drugs is widespread; that the evidence that putatively enhancing pharmaceuticals are truly neuroenhancing is much weaker than often supposed; that bioethicists have underestimated the challenges in assessing the safety and efficacy of putative neuroenhancers; and that the assumption that neuroenhancement is a novel development has deflected attention from historical experiences with otherp u t a t i v e l y enhancing pharmaceutical drugs such as cocaine and the amphetamines.
Philosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine, 2019
Better memory, greater motivation and concentration lead to greater productivity, efficiency and performance, all of which are features that are highly valued in a modern society focused on productivity. In the effort for better cognitive abilities, otherwise healthy individuals use cognitive enhancers (also known as nootropics), medicines for the treatment of cognitive deficits of patients with various disorders and health problems, such as Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, stroke, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ageing. The use of these is more common in professions with emphasised cognitive abilities, or in occupations that require more attention, focus and alertness. Their use is also associated with the general working population, in that they are supposed to use them to alleviate the effects of sleep deprivation and to cope with increasing workloads. In the paper, we are addressing the ethical issue and the dilemmas of the use of pharmaceutical enhancements by healthy people who have no medical reason for taking such substances, in the context of improving their cognitive functions.
Ethical Implications of advances in neuroscience research on the addictions
2002
Executive Summary Drug dependence is a serious personal and public health issue in developed countries, such as, Australia, the European Union, the UK, and the USA. It is also becoming a serious problem in developing countries. Many forms of drug dependence are difficult to treat because we lack effective psychosocial or pharmacological treatments.