biotechnology
Our
Posthuman Future Francis Fukuyama, 2002. Fukuyama argues that future biotech
capabilities may give us the capacity to effectively control human behaviour
but may ultimately lead us into a "posthuman" future. What is ultimately
at stake in the biotech revolution, according to Fukuyama, is the loss of
our human essence. This amounts to more than a mere change in genetic constitution
because the politically indispensable concept of human rights is derived not
from God nor from man himself, but from nature.
Redesigning
Humans Gregory Stock, 2002, Stock argues that our collective challenge
is not to figure out how to block these biotechnology developments, but how
best to realise their benefits while minimising our risks and safeguarding
our rights and freedoms. The best way to do that is to inform ourselves about
the technologies while realising that we are not in need of special ethical
or political training to face up to the choices those technologies will eventually
offer us.
