Militaries worldwide are making substantial investments in human enhancements—giving the warfight... more Militaries worldwide are making substantial investments in human enhancements—giving the warfighter a technological upgrade. Driven by neuroscience, biotechnology, nanotechnology, robotics, and other emerging technologies, this upgrade includes research to build warfighters who can operate for days without sleep or food, lift superhuman loads, learn faster, and even communicate telepathically.
After World War II, much debate unfolded about the ethical, legal, and social implications of mil... more After World War II, much debate unfolded about the ethical, legal, and social implications of military human enhancement, due in part to Adolf Hitler's war on the “genetically unfit” and the United States military's experimentation with psychedelic drugs such as LSD. Interest in that debate has waxed and waned since the 1940s. However, it would be foolish or perhaps even dangerous to believe that America and its modern allies have abandoned efforts to upgrade service members' bodies and minds to create the “super soldiers” necessary to match the increasing pace of modern warfare and dominate the strengthening militaries of China and North Korea. Slogans such as “be all that you can be and a whole lot more” still reign strong at the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and, according to some military futurists, the so-called “War on Terror” has only proven that military superpowers need a new type of soldier that is independent, network-integrated, and more lethal than ever before. Patterns of public risk perception, military expenditure, and new technological developments suggest that it is now time to re-open or reinvigorate the original debate. The authors' contribution comes in two parts. In this chapter, they provide a brief background to military human enhancement before defining it carefully and exploring the relevant controversies. In the second, they more explicitly examine the relevant legal, operational, and moral challenges posed by these efforts.
<p>As we begin our venture into space, issues with serious ethical implications deserve hei... more <p>As we begin our venture into space, issues with serious ethical implications deserve heightened scrutiny: among them are protection from space debris, hazardous asteroids, and other cosmic threats; planetary protection/quarantine and other safety and risk issues; protection of astronaut health; commercial and private sector activities in space, including tourism; and terraforming, colonization, and space settlements. The presumption that these activities require <italic>human</italic> astronauts is itself worthy of serious question; whether for reasons of cost, efficiency, or moral qualms, robots may be an ethically preferable choice to engage in most or perhaps even all of these activities. This chapter examines these issues and analyzes the moral case for robots, rather than human beings, filling the roles of space explorers, developers, miners, defenders, and settlers of the final frontier.</p>
As technologies help us to push further and further into outer space, new ethical issues emerge, ... more As technologies help us to push further and further into outer space, new ethical issues emerge, as is typical for new frontiers. This chapter will survey issues ranging from the practical to the theoretical, such as bioethics for astronauts, including issues of sex and reproduction and whether we should initially send humans at all (instead of robots); commercial activities in space, including tourism and property rights; terraforming, colonization, and space settlements, including environmental considerations; planetary protection/quarantine and other safety and risk issues; dual-use technologies that could further militarize space; and more. This chapter will argue that, in addition to novel ethical issues arising from this new technological frontier, old ethical discussions generated by technology (e.g., abortion, genetic enhancement) will need revisiting once we escape terrestrial assumptions and context.
This chapter contains sections titled: 3.1 Four Questions, 3.2 The Requirements of Moral Personho... more This chapter contains sections titled: 3.1 Four Questions, 3.2 The Requirements of Moral Personhood: Robots and Their Implications, 3.3 Conclusion: On Robots and Ethics, and Combining the Two, References
Nanotechnology, human cloning, and genetically-modified foods are issues which raise profound eth... more Nanotechnology, human cloning, and genetically-modified foods are issues which raise profound ethical questions. Any technology which appears to be so unnatural that it falls outside the bounds of what humans ought to explore usually leads to the charge that scientists are dangerously “playing God” with “unnatural” investigations. But making sense of such concerns and discerning what it means for a technology to be “unnatural” turns out to be quite difficult. This essay will explor e possible commonalities in worries about the “natural/ unnatural” and the “internal/external” distinctions, and see if either distinction can bear the moral weight often placed upon them.
Abstract: The United States military is making substantial investments to develop technologies th... more Abstract: The United States military is making substantial investments to develop technologies that would enhance the ability of warfighters to complete their missions safely and effectively. Driven by neuroscience, biotechnology, nanotechnology, robotics, and other emerging technologies, this research includes combating sleep deprivation, improving cognitive performance, increasing strength, reducing muscle fatigue, and other enhancements to the human body and mind.
Abstract: Imagine the face of warfare with autonomous robotics: Instead of our soldiers returning... more Abstract: Imagine the face of warfare with autonomous robotics: Instead of our soldiers returning home in flag-draped caskets to heartbroken families, autonomous robots-mobile machines that can make decisions, such as to fire upon a target, without human intervention-can replace the human soldier in an increasing range of dangerous missions: from tunneling through dark caves in search of terrorists, to securing urban streets rife with sniper fire, to patrolling the skies and waterways where there is little cover from attacks, to clearing ...
Militaries worldwide are making substantial investments in human enhancements—giving the warfight... more Militaries worldwide are making substantial investments in human enhancements—giving the warfighter a technological upgrade. Driven by neuroscience, biotechnology, nanotechnology, robotics, and other emerging technologies, this upgrade includes research to build warfighters who can operate for days without sleep or food, lift superhuman loads, learn faster, and even communicate telepathically.
After World War II, much debate unfolded about the ethical, legal, and social implications of mil... more After World War II, much debate unfolded about the ethical, legal, and social implications of military human enhancement, due in part to Adolf Hitler&amp;#39;s war on the “genetically unfit” and the United States military&amp;#39;s experimentation with psychedelic drugs such as LSD. Interest in that debate has waxed and waned since the 1940s. However, it would be foolish or perhaps even dangerous to believe that America and its modern allies have abandoned efforts to upgrade service members&amp;#39; bodies and minds to create the “super soldiers” necessary to match the increasing pace of modern warfare and dominate the strengthening militaries of China and North Korea. Slogans such as “be all that you can be and a whole lot more” still reign strong at the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and, according to some military futurists, the so-called “War on Terror” has only proven that military superpowers need a new type of soldier that is independent, network-integrated, and more lethal than ever before. Patterns of public risk perception, military expenditure, and new technological developments suggest that it is now time to re-open or reinvigorate the original debate. The authors&amp;#39; contribution comes in two parts. In this chapter, they provide a brief background to military human enhancement before defining it carefully and exploring the relevant controversies. In the second, they more explicitly examine the relevant legal, operational, and moral challenges posed by these efforts.
<p>As we begin our venture into space, issues with serious ethical implications deserve hei... more <p>As we begin our venture into space, issues with serious ethical implications deserve heightened scrutiny: among them are protection from space debris, hazardous asteroids, and other cosmic threats; planetary protection/quarantine and other safety and risk issues; protection of astronaut health; commercial and private sector activities in space, including tourism; and terraforming, colonization, and space settlements. The presumption that these activities require <italic>human</italic> astronauts is itself worthy of serious question; whether for reasons of cost, efficiency, or moral qualms, robots may be an ethically preferable choice to engage in most or perhaps even all of these activities. This chapter examines these issues and analyzes the moral case for robots, rather than human beings, filling the roles of space explorers, developers, miners, defenders, and settlers of the final frontier.</p>
As technologies help us to push further and further into outer space, new ethical issues emerge, ... more As technologies help us to push further and further into outer space, new ethical issues emerge, as is typical for new frontiers. This chapter will survey issues ranging from the practical to the theoretical, such as bioethics for astronauts, including issues of sex and reproduction and whether we should initially send humans at all (instead of robots); commercial activities in space, including tourism and property rights; terraforming, colonization, and space settlements, including environmental considerations; planetary protection/quarantine and other safety and risk issues; dual-use technologies that could further militarize space; and more. This chapter will argue that, in addition to novel ethical issues arising from this new technological frontier, old ethical discussions generated by technology (e.g., abortion, genetic enhancement) will need revisiting once we escape terrestrial assumptions and context.
This chapter contains sections titled: 3.1 Four Questions, 3.2 The Requirements of Moral Personho... more This chapter contains sections titled: 3.1 Four Questions, 3.2 The Requirements of Moral Personhood: Robots and Their Implications, 3.3 Conclusion: On Robots and Ethics, and Combining the Two, References
Nanotechnology, human cloning, and genetically-modified foods are issues which raise profound eth... more Nanotechnology, human cloning, and genetically-modified foods are issues which raise profound ethical questions. Any technology which appears to be so unnatural that it falls outside the bounds of what humans ought to explore usually leads to the charge that scientists are dangerously “playing God” with “unnatural” investigations. But making sense of such concerns and discerning what it means for a technology to be “unnatural” turns out to be quite difficult. This essay will explor e possible commonalities in worries about the “natural/ unnatural” and the “internal/external” distinctions, and see if either distinction can bear the moral weight often placed upon them.
Abstract: The United States military is making substantial investments to develop technologies th... more Abstract: The United States military is making substantial investments to develop technologies that would enhance the ability of warfighters to complete their missions safely and effectively. Driven by neuroscience, biotechnology, nanotechnology, robotics, and other emerging technologies, this research includes combating sleep deprivation, improving cognitive performance, increasing strength, reducing muscle fatigue, and other enhancements to the human body and mind.
Abstract: Imagine the face of warfare with autonomous robotics: Instead of our soldiers returning... more Abstract: Imagine the face of warfare with autonomous robotics: Instead of our soldiers returning home in flag-draped caskets to heartbroken families, autonomous robots-mobile machines that can make decisions, such as to fire upon a target, without human intervention-can replace the human soldier in an increasing range of dangerous missions: from tunneling through dark caves in search of terrorists, to securing urban streets rife with sniper fire, to patrolling the skies and waterways where there is little cover from attacks, to clearing ...
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