Human Enhancement: Our approach
Human enhancement is no longer science fiction. Developments in biomedicine and neuroscience demands practical discussion about its ethical, legal, and social implications. SIENNA uses a structured approach to examine the challenges to society.
We begin with a state-of-the-art review of the field, including an analysis of legal and human rights requirements within and outside the EU. We will survey research ethics committee approaches and codes. This data will inform a meaningful ethical assessment. SIENNA will also engage a wide range of stakeholders through workshops, surveys of societal acceptance and awareness and citizen panels.
The ethical, legal and social analysis consists of the following components:
- State of the art review
- Analysis of legal and human rights requirements in and outside the EU
- Survey of Research Ethics Committee approaches and codes
- Ethical assessment
- Surveys of societal acceptance and awareness
- Citizen panels
- Developing ethical framework
Proposals for the ethical management of human enhancement technlogies
We have developed proposals for the ethical management of human enhancement technlogies.
- Recommendations for new regulations
- Ethics guidelines for human enhancement
These proposals were presented at the SIENNA final conference.
Ethical impacts of human enhancement
Human enhancement will significantly impact society, values and human rights. What will change for the better, and what will change for the worse? Which values could change and who will be most affected?
Promoting ethics for human enhancement technologies
Some human enhancement is controversial socially and morally. They promise the advancement of humanity, but also introduce serious risks to health and well-being, freedom, and equality. Human enhancement research and development can be missed in ethical and legislative review. The field is broad, and enhancement potential can be difficult to predict, especially if such potential is not actively sought. In all cases, guidance is needed. This brief addresses the need for policies aimed at ethical guidance for research, development and deployment of human enhancement technologies.
Yasemin J. Erden, & Philip Brey. (2021, March 24). Promoting ethics for human enhancement technologies: SIENNA project Policy Brief #5 (Version V1.0). Zenodo. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4633510
This brief is also available in Greek: Yasemin J. Erden, & Philip Brey. (2021). Προωθώντας την ηθική και τη δεοντολογία των τεχνολογιών ανθρώπινης βελτίωσης: Σύνοψη πολιτικής του προγράμματος SIENNA αρ. 5 (Version V1.0). Zenodo. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5550580