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Moral enhancement and behavioral trait variance.

Brandon Long1

  • 1Department of Philosophy, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio, USA.

Bioethics
|March 18, 2025
PubMed
Summary

Moral enhancement theories often overlook behavioral trait variance. This study argues that increasing this variance, the range of behaviors within a trait, can foster moral flourishing and virtue ethics.

Keywords:
behavioral trait variancegenomicsmoral enhancementpsychological traitsvirtue ethics

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Area of Science:

  • Ethics
  • Moral Philosophy
  • Behavioral Science

Background:

  • Moral enhancement often focuses on average personality traits, ignoring individual behavioral variance.
  • Behavioral trait variance, the range of behaviors within a trait, can be influenced by genetic factors.
  • Existing theories lack a comprehensive ethical analysis of behavioral trait variance.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the moral significance of behavioral trait variance within virtue ethics.
  • To explore how behavioral trait variance relates to Martha Nussbaum's capabilities approach.
  • To argue that increased behavioral trait variance can promote moral flourishing.

Main Methods:

  • Philosophical analysis integrating virtue ethics and capabilities approach.
  • Examination of the context-dependent nature of social virtues.
  • Conceptual investigation of personality enhancement and its impact on virtue.

Main Results:

  • Reducing behavioral trait variance may hinder an individual's ability to achieve virtues or capabilities.
  • Increased behavioral trait variance can enhance moral flourishing by allowing for context-specific virtuous behavior.
  • A consistently disagreeable individual may struggle with virtues like friendliness across diverse situations.

Conclusions:

  • Behavioral trait variance plays a crucial role in virtue ethics and moral flourishing.
  • Moral enhancement theories should consider the ethical implications of behavioral trait variance.
  • Future research should explore the impact of behavioral trait variance on capabilities and virtues.