Enhanced Cognition, Ethics, and Some Problems of Self-Knowledge

Abstract

Advances in neuroscience and its related technologies promise signifi cant forms of cognitive enhancement, chiefl y through the development of drugs, genetic engineering and screening, and electronic devices for aug- menting brain functions. Such advances, however, raise a complex cluster of ethical questions that should increasingly concern us in the future as these technologies become more prevalent, powerful, and wide ranging in their effects. Most ethical dilemmas and debates about enhanced cog- nition seem to focus on our relation to others. These ethical controversies typically concern two kinds of issues. The fi rst is whether our enhanced knowledge about others may be unethically used to limit their freedom, which would not be so limited if our cognition was not thus enhanced. An example of this issue would be whether enhanced biological knowl- edge of an individual's physiological or psychological predisposition to violence should be used to limit that person's access to fi rearms or to cer- tain professions, even if that person has not yet displayed any excessive or disturbing violence in actual behavior. The second kind of ethical prob- lem case, which seems more a matter of fairness than freedom, relates to whether the enhanced cognition that an individual (or group) achieves provides an unfair advantage over others in the competitive situations