Beyond therapy : biotechnology and the pursuit of happiness /
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| Corporate author / creator: | President's Council on Bioethics (U.S.) |
|---|---|
| Imprint: | [Washington, D.C. : President's Council on Bioethics], c2004?] |
| Description: | xxi, 328 p. ; 23 cm. |
| Language: | English |
| Subject: | |
| Format: | E-Resource Print Book |
| URL for this record: | http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/5277668 |
Table of Contents:
- Foreword
- Bioethics and Scientific Process: Cautions about debates involving ethics and science
- Introduction
- About the Authors of the Foreword, Added Comments, and Introduction
- Letter of Transmittal to the President
- Members of the President's Council on Bioethics
- Council Staff and Consultants
- Preface
- 1.. Biotechnology and the Pursuit of Happiness
- I. The Golden Age: Enthusiasm and Concern
- II. The Case for Public Attention
- III. Defining the Topic
- IV. Ends and Means
- V. The Limitations of the "Therapy vs. Enhancement" Distinction
- VI. Beyond Natural Limits: Dreams of Perfection and Happiness
- VII. Structure of the Inquiry: The Primacy of Human Aspirations
- VIII. Method and Spirit
- Endnotes
- 2.. Better Children
- I. Improving Native Powers: Genetic Knowledge and Technology
- A. An Overview
- B. Technical Possibilities
- 1. Prenatal Diagnosis and Screening Out
- 2. Genetic Engineering of Desired Traits ("Fixing Up")
- 3. Selecting Embryos for Desired Traits ("Choosing In")
- C. Ethical Analysis
- 1. Benefits
- 2. Questions of Safety
- 3. Questions of Equality
- 4. Consequences for Families and Society
- II. Choosing Sex of Children
- A. Ends and Means
- B. Preliminary Ethical Analysis
- C. The Limits of Liberty
- D. The Meaning of Sexuality and Procreation
- III. Improving Children's Behavior: Psychotropic Drugs
- A. Behavior Modification in Children Using Stimulants
- 1. What Are Stimulant Drugs?
- 2. Behaviors Inviting Improvement Through Stimulant Drugs
- 3. The "Universal Enhancer"
- B. Ethical and Social Concerns
- 1. Safety First
- 2. Rearing Children: The Human Context
- 3. Social Control and Conformity
- 4. Moral Education and Medicalization
- 5. The Meaning of Performance
- IV. Conclusion: The Meaning of Childhood
- Appendix. Diagnostic Criteria for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
- Endnotes
- 3.. Superior Performance
- I. The Meaning of "Superior Performance"
- II. Sport and the Superior Athlete
- A. Why Sport?
- B. The Superior Athlete
- C. Different Ways of Enhancing Performance
- 1. Better Equipment
- 2. Better Training
- 3. Better Native Powers
- III. Muscle Enhancement through Biotechnology
- A. Muscles and Their Meanings
- B. Muscle Cell Growth and Development
- C. Opportunities and Techniques for Muscle Enhancement
- IV. Ethical Analysis
- A. How Is Biotechnical Enhancement Different?
- B. Fairness and Equality
- C. Coercion and Social Pressure
- D. Adverse Side Effects: Health, Balance, and the Whole of Life
- E. The Dignity of Human Activity
- 1. The Meaning of Competition
- 2. The Relationship between Doer and Deed
- 3. Acts of Humans, Human Acts: Harmony of Mind and Body
- F. Superior Performance and the Good Society
- Endnotes
- 4.. Ageless Bodies
- I. The Meaning of "Ageless Bodies"
- II. Basic Terms and Concepts
- III. Scientific Background
- A. Targeting Specific Deficiencies of Old Age
- 1. Muscle Enhancement
- 2. Memory Enhancement
- B. General (Body-Wide) Age-Retardation
- 1. Caloric Restriction
- 2. Genetic Manipulations
- 3. Prevention of Oxidative Damage
- 4. Methods of Treating the Ailments of the Aged That Might Affect Age-Retardation
- a. Hormone treatments
- b. Telomere research
- IV. Ethical Issues
- A. Effects on the Individual
- 1. Greater Freedom from Constraints of Time
- 2. Commitment and Engagement
- 3. Aspiration and Urgency
- 4. Renewal and Children
- 5. Attitudes toward Death and Mortality
- 6. The Meaning of the Life Cycle
- B. Effects on Society
- 1. Generations and Families
- 2. Innovation, Change, and Renewal
- 3. The Aging of Society
- V. Conclusion
- Endnotes
- 5.. Happy Souls
- I. What Are "Happy Souls"?
- II. Memory and Happiness
- A. Good Memories and Bad
- B. Biotechnology and Memory Alteration
- C. Memory-Blunting: Ethical Analysis
- 1. Remembering Fitly and Truly
- 2. The Obligation to Remember
- 3. Memory and Moral Responsibility
- 4. The Soul of Memory, The Remembering Soul
- III. Mood and Happiness
- A. Mood-Improvement through Drugs
- 1. Mood-Brightening Agents: An Overview
- 2. Biological and Experiential Effects of SSRIs
- B. Ethical Analysis
- 1. Living Truly
- 2. Fitting Sensibilities and Human Attachments
- 3. What Sorrow Teaches, What Discontent Provokes
- 4. Medicalization of Self-Understanding
- 5. The Roots of Human Flourishing
- 6. The Happy Self and the Good Society
- IV. Conclusion
- Endnotes
- 6.. "Beyond Therapy": General Reflections
- I. The Big Picture
- II. Familiar Sources of Concern
- A. Health: Issues of Safety and Bodily Harm
- B. Unfairness
- C. Equality of Access
- D. Liberty: Issues of Freedom and Coercion, Overt and Subtle
- III. Essential Sources of Concern
- A. Hubris or Humility: Respect for "the Given"
- B. "Unnatural" Means: The Dignity of Human Activity
- C. Identity and Individuality
- D. Partial Ends, Full Flourishing
- IV. Biotechnology and American Society
- A. Commerce, Regulation, and the Manufacture of Desire
- B. Medicine, Medicalization, and a Stance "Beyond Therapy"
- C. Biotechnology and American Ideals
- Endnotes
- Bibliography
- Index
