Well-Being and Human Enhancement: A Natural-Law Perspective

Abstract In this paper, I explore some general ethical questions raised by potential human enhancement technologies from a natural-law perspective. I begin by distinguishing between various types of enhancement, with a focus on what I term “radical enhancement.” These are enhancements that would improve human capacities beyond those that have ever been possessed by any human being. Next, I offer a brief account of the basic tenets of natural-law theory, with an emphasis on the roles of practical reason and basic human goods. I then argue that natural law offers some broad constraints on the sorts of enhancements it would be permissible to pursue. However, I ultimately claim that some enhancements could actually provide access to distinct instances of basic human goods that would otherwise be inaccessible to us. Therefore, it would not only be permissible to pursue such enhancements, but we would even have good reason to do so.