Bioconservatism (a portmanteau of ” biology ” and ” conservatism “) is a stance of hesitancy and skepticism concerning radical advances, especially those that seek to modify or enhance the human condition. Bioconservatism is a phenomenon that is characterized by a belief in human society , and by opposition to transhumanism and other phenomena , including human genetic modification, “strong” artificial intelligence , and the singularity . Many bioconservatives aussi opposes the use of technology Such As life extension andpreimplantation genetic screening .
Bioconservatives range in political perspective from right-leaning religious and cultural conservatives to left-leaning environmentalists and technology critics . What unites bioconservatives is skepticism about medical and other biotechnological transformations of the living world . [1] [2] [3] [4] Typically less sweeping as a critique of technological society than bioluddism , the perspective is bioconservative caractérisée by ict defense of the natural , Deployed as a moral category.[5] [6]
Philosophical background
The philosophical underpinnings of bioconservative thought is diverse, ranging from religious to secular, and from left-wing to conservative. Nick Bostrom identified three major strains of thought that might lead to concerns about radical change. Two of these strains of thought are first, that human increase is innately degrading and therefore harmful, and secondly that the existence of humans poses a threat to “ordinary humans”. The third strain of thought is religious, and holds that increase human violins and is an insult to the supernatural [7] [ wave ] .
Criticism
The transhumanist Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies is a form of “human racism” (more commonly known as speciesism ), and is motivated by a ” yuck factor ” that ignores individual freedoms. [8]
Notable bioconservatives
- George Annas
- Dale Carrico
- Francis Fukuyama
- Leon Kass
- Bill McKibben
- Jeremy Rifkin
- Wesley Smith
See also
- Bioluddism
- Techno-progressivism
- Transhumanism
References
- Jump up^ Huesemann, Michael H., and Joyce A. Huesemann (2011). Technofix: Why Technology Will not Save Us or the Environment , New Society Publishers, Gabriola Island, British Columbia, Canada,ISBN 0865717044, 464 pp.
- Jump up^ Mander, Jerry (1991). “In the Absence of the Sacred: The Failure of Technology and the Survival of the Indian Nations,” Sierra Club Books, San Francisco, California.
- Jump up^ Rifkin, Jeremy (1998). “The Biotech Century: Harnessing the Gene and Remaking the World,” Jeremy P. Tarcher / Putnam, New York, New York.
- Jump up^ Shiva, Vandana (2000). “Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply,” South End Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
- Jump up^ Carrico, Dale (2004). “The Trouble with” Transhumanism “: Part Two” . Retrieved 2007-01-28 .
- Jump up^ Carrico, Dale (2005). “Technoprogressivism Beyond Technophilia and Technophobia” . Retrieved 2007-01-28 .
- Jump up^ Bostrom, Nick (June 1, 2005). “In defense of posthuman dignity” . Bioethics . 19 (3): 202-214. doi : 10.1111 / j.1467-8519.2005.00437.x . Retrieved August 25, 2017 .
- Jump up^ “Bioconservative” . Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies . Retrieved August 25, 2017 .