Review by Choice Review
Truly Human Enhancement feels like a rather loosely stitched together series of comments on and responses to what other commentators have recently said about human enhancement. The book's reliance on science fiction to exemplify enhancement, together with ad hoc descriptors of its moral and philosophical repercussions, may leave readers questioning what is substance and what is merely fireworks in the bioethical debate. Unfortunately, Agar (Victoria Univ. of Wellington, New Zealand; Humanity's End, CH, Apr'11, 48-4393) does not define the conceptual notions needed to gain a thorough understanding of the field and the more substantive discussions within it. In some cases, even notions key to understanding what seem to be the author's main arguments, such as the idea of "radical enhancement," remain undefined; readers must infer their meaning through the different properties assigned to them. Numeric cross-references such as "what I am discussing in this chapter should not be understood as isolated from what I said in Chapter 8, as we will see in Chapter 5" do not help clarity. This book addresses an intriguing topic and will truly appeal to those who are conducting in-depth studies and cannot afford to skip anything written about it. --Pablo Rodriguez del Pozo, Weill Cornell Medical College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
