Moral bioenhancement and agential risks: Good and bad outcomes

Area of Science:

• Bioethics
• Existential Risk Studies
• Moral Philosophy

Background:

• Ingmar Persson and Julian Savulescu highlight unprecedented global dangers from climate change and terrorism.
• They propose moral bioenhancement as a radical solution alongside cognitive enhancement to mitigate existential risks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the potential dual-edged impact of moral bioenhancement on different types of malicious agents.
• To introduce a critical complication to the proposal of widespread moral bioenhancement.
• To present a novel argument regarding the public availability and regulation of moral bioenhancement.

Main Methods:

• Philosophical analysis of the implications of moral bioenhancement.
• Ethical reasoning on the differential impact on various threat actors.
• Argumentation for specific policy recommendations on bioenhancement accessibility.

Main Results:

• Moral bioenhancements could significantly amplify threats from certain malicious agents.
• Conversely, these enhancements might reduce threats posed by other malicious actors.
• The net effect on security is complex and previously underexplored.

Conclusions:

• The proposal for moral bioenhancement requires careful consideration of its potential to exacerbate certain threats.
• A novel argument suggests moral bioenhancement should be either compulsory or entirely unavailable to the public.
• Further ethical and security analyses are crucial before implementing widespread moral bioenhancement.