• Online Video
• Audio Downloads
• Films to Watch and Discuss
• Articles
• Books

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Online video

‘Cyborg life’ with Kevin Warwick

‘Enhancement and the secularised philosophy of transhumanism’ – Dr. Denis Alexander

New Scientist clip: Quest for immortality

Audio

RTÉ’s Big Science Debate Human Enhancement: Making People Better or Making Better People?

7th October 2007

We’ve already dabbled in the area of human enhancement with cosmetic surgery, but should we be allowed to ask for better children, longer memories or even ageless lives? Will human enhancement change what it means to be human?

Recorded in Studio 1 in RTÉ Radio Centre in association with The Irish Council for Bio Ethics and Science Foundation, Ireland. Pat Kenny is host for the evening.

Click here to visit the show’s website, or use the audio player below to listen now.

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Nanotechnology – A Christian Perspective

Andrew Cook, Grace Baptist Mission Radio | 15 minutes – Copyright © 2005 GBM Radio

Films to watch and discuss

AI (2001)

David, a highly advanced robotic boy longs to become “real” so that he can regain the love of his human mother David.

Bicentennial Man (1999)

A robot wants to become human as he gains human emotions more and more.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

A couple undergo a brain ‘cleansing’ procedure to erase each other from their memories when their relationship turns sour, but it is only through the process of loss that they discover what they had to begin with. Useful for starting discussion on neuroethics.

I, Robot (2004)

Set in a future Earth (2035 A.D.) where robots are common assistants and workers for their human owners a techno-phobic cop investigates a crime that may have been perpetrated by a robot, which leads to a larger threat to humanity.

Lawnmower Man (1992)

A simple man is turned into a genius through the application of computer science and eventually becomes a completely artificial life form, existing solely within the worldwide internet computer network. The film illustrates the danger inherent in the lack of control over the uses of technology. If you’re looking for a film on transhumanism, then you couldn’t get much more transhuman than this one.

Articles

CARE

‘Living Happily Ever After? The ethics of enhancing humans’ – Philippa Taylor, October 2007 (PDF)

‘New Technologies leaflet’ – Philippa Taylor (PDF)

Centre for Bioethics & Human Dignity, USA

C. Ben Mitchell, Genetically Enhancing Athletes?

www.cbhd.org/content/genetically-enhancing-athletes

E. Pellegrino, Biotechnology, Human Enhancement, and the Ends of Medicine

www.cbhd.org/content/biotechnology-human-enhancement-and-ends-medicine

W.P. Cheshire, Grey Matters: Just Enhancement

www.cbhd.org/content/grey-matters-just-enhancement

M.J. Sleasman, Beyond Perfectionism

www.cbhd.org/content/beyond-perfectionism-0

Christian Medical Fellowship

CMF Files | Transhumanism (PDF)

Jubilee Centre

Denis Alexander, Enhancing humans or a new creation? Cambridge Papers, Vol 18, 2 June 2009

www.jubilee-centre.org/document.php?id=320&topicID=6

Recommended books

The following books address ideas and perspectives from across the spectrum of those for and those against human enhancement.

How to be a Christian in a Brave New World

Joni Eareckson Tada and Nigel Cameron, 2006, Zondervan

Stem cell research, cloning, genetic engineering. Today, discoveries in biotechnology are occurring so rapidly that we can barely address one ethical debate before another looms overhead. How should we respond as Christians?

Our Posthuman Future

Francis Fukyama, 2005

Fukyama argues that as a result of biomedical advances we are facing the possiblity of a future in which our humanity itself will be altered beyond recognition. A readable, informative and challenging book by a highly respected social philosopher.

Enhancing Evolution: The Ethical Case for Making Better People

John Harris, 2009

Leading bioethicist John Harris provides a detailed case in favour of human enhancement. He argues that enhancement is a good thing – good morally, good for individuals, good as social policy, and good for a genetic heritage that needs serious improvement. The book’s worth is found in the fact that in a single volume it provides the reader with the opportunity to engage with the pro-enhancement argument.

Enough: Genetic Engineering and the End of Human Nature

Bill McKibben, 2003

In this well-researched book McKibben asks how to control the technoscience juggernaut before it dehumanizes our species. Will we ever decide that we’ve grown powerful enough? Can we draw a line and say ‘enough’?

Enhancing Me: The Hope and the Hype of Human Enhancement

Pete Moore, 2008

Moore provides a lucid and engaging survey of the field of human enhancement technologies, informed by key interviews with leading enhancement thinkers and adopters of such technology. The book provides a really good introductory read to the subject and presents a balanced and informed perspective on the issue.

From Human to Posthuman: Christian Theology and Technology in a Postmodern World

Brent Waters, 2009