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Rethinking enhancement in sport
1School of Media, Language and Music, University of Paisley, Ayr Campus, KA8 0SR Scotland, United Kingdom. email@andymiah.net
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
|February 22, 2007
Summary
Human enhancement technologies in sports can enrich elite athletic performance, challenging traditional anti-doping perspectives. This research advocates for a new understanding of the doping debate in light of evolving technological advancements.
Area of Science:
- Sports Science
- Bioethics
- Philosophy of Sport
Background:
- The traditional anti-doping framework focuses on protecting the 'natural human' in sports.
- Technological advancements present new challenges and opportunities for athletic performance.
- Existing legislative structures for enhancement in sports require critical review.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore arguments surrounding human enhancement technologies in sports.
- To reconceptualize the ongoing doping debate.
- To propose a framework for understanding technological impacts on elite sports.
Main Methods:
- Critical overview and critique of current legislative structures on enhancement.
- Development of a conceptual framework for technological effects in sport.
- Analysis of case studies: hypoxic chambers and gene transfer.
Main Results:
- Human enhancement technologies can potentially enrich, rather than diminish, elite sports.
- The increasing range of available enhancements challenges the relevance of protecting the 'natural human' through anti-doping measures.
- Elite sports are at a critical juncture due to technological evolution.
Conclusions:
- A reconceptualization of the doping debate is necessary.
- Technological enhancements offer new avenues for athletic development.
- The definition of 'natural' in elite sports is becoming increasingly complex.
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