Abstract
Biomedical enhancement refers to the use of biomedical interventions to improve capacities beyond normal, rather than to treat deficiencies due to diseases. Enhancement can target physical or cognitive capacities, but also complex human behaviors such as morality. However, the complexity of normal moral behavior makes it unlikely that morality is a single capacity that can be deficient or enhanced. Instead, our central hypothesis will be that moral behavior results from multiple, interacting cognitive-affective networks in the brain. First, we will test this hypothesis by reviewing evidence for modulation of moral behavior using non-invasive brain stimulation. Next, we will discuss how this evidence affects ethical issues related to the use of moral enhancement. We end with the conclusion that while brain stimulation has the potential to alter moral behavior, such alteration is unlikely to improve moral behavior in all situations, and may even lead to less morally desirable behavior in some instances.
Highlights
Biomedical enhancement refers to biomedical interventions used to improve certain capacities beyond normal, rather than to restore capacities deficient as a result of a disease (Chatterjee, 2004)
We review the existing literature on the use of non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) to modulate moral behavior
We will discuss how the evidence from non-invasive brain stimulation affects the ethical debate on moral enhancement
Summary
Biomedical enhancement refers to biomedical interventions used to improve certain capacities beyond normal, rather than to restore capacities deficient as a result of a disease (Chatterjee, 2004). Delgado, an early pioneer in brain stimulation, argued that progress toward a “psycho-civilized society” would require both educational and biomedical interventions to improve moral motivations and reduce tendencies toward violence (Delgado, 1969) His concerns for unrestrained advances in “technologies of destruction” (Delgado, 1969) without accompanying advances in moral behavior parallel many modern ethicists (Persson and Savulescu, 2013). Rather than improving or impairing a single “moral” process, we will show that non-invasive brain stimulation alters specific neuropsychological processes contributing to normal moral behavior. Such alterations can be viewed as moral “enhancement” in certain situations, but may lead to immoral behavior in other situations. We will discuss how the evidence from non-invasive brain stimulation affects the ethical debate on moral enhancement
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