Integration of cognitive and moral enhancement

In: Filozofija i društvo, Band 23, Heft 2, S. 91-103

Abstract

I will discuss four major perspectives on cognitive enhancement and morality:
1) cognitive enhancement is morally impermissible because humans are not
supposed to alter what God has ordained or nature has shaped; 2) cognitive
enhancement is our moral duty, because a cognitively upgraded human is a
better human; 3) cognitive enhancement is morally permissible only if it is
preceded by moral enhancement; 4) cognitive enhancement is morally
permissible only if it is a means to moral enhancement. I shall argue that
the first three perspectives are less cogent than the fourth. The fourth
perspective integrates cognitive and moral enhancement into one whole. I will
denote it by (C+M) E.