A recent article on modifying ethical and virtue behavior, from the Journal of Medical Ethics talks about the ethics of modifying human behavior. From the paper:
Here are some examples of non-traditional means of moral enhancement:
▸ Glucose as a means of increasing resistance to temptation to do something wrong or to stop trying to do what one should
▸ Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors as a means to being less inclined to assault people
▸ Propranolol as a means of decreasing unconscious racial bias.
▸ Deep-brain stimulation (eg, electrical stimulation of the amygdala) as a means to reducing aggression
▸ Neurofeedback to increase sympathy and/or treat antisocial personality disorder (psychopathy)
▸ Selection of embryos that contain a gene coding for a greater disposition to altruism
▸ Genetic interventions to gametes, embryos or postnatal human beings as a means to the same end
▸ Embryo selection or genetic engineering as a means of avoiding or neutralising genes associated with antisocial personality disorder
▸ Either of these means as a way of securing a stronger predisposition to fairness
▸ An artificial chromosome that includes multiple genes coding for stronger predispositions to a variety of moral virtues\
The original article can be found at
Or, a copy is available here:
How do we differentiate between "moral improvement" (that is, reducing tendency for aggression, violent assault, antisocial personality disorders) and the improvement obtained by athletes using doping (thank you, Lance Armstrong)?
Taro Aso referred to elderly patients who are no longer able to feed themselves as 'tube people'. Photograph: Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP/Getty Images