Humility pills: building an ethics of cognitive enhancement.
The use of cognition-enhancing drugs (CEDs) appears to be increasingly common in both academic and workplace settings. But many universities and businesses have not yet engaged with the ethical challenges raised by CED use. This paper considers criticisms of CED use with a particular focus on the Accomplishment Argument: an influential set of claims holding that enhanced work is less dignified, valuable, or authentic, and that cognitive enhancement damages our characters. While the Accomplishment Argument assumes a view of authorship based on individual credit-taking, an impersonal or collaborative view is just as possible. This paper considers the benefits of this view-including humility, a value often claimed by critics of enhancement-and argues that such a view is consistent with open CED use. It proposes an ethics of cognitive enhancement based on toleration, transparency, and humility, and it discusses how institutions and individuals can build a culture of open cognitive enhancement.
Columbia University, New York, USA rg2803@columbia.edu.
Rob
R
Goodman
D026688:Bioethical Issues; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D006801:Humans; D018697:Nootropic Agents; D010686:Philosophy, Medical; D057766:Policy
D018697:Nootropic Agents
cognitive enhancement; creativity; drugs; enhancement; ethics