Mike Austin's Blog

Morality and the Good Life is moving here. To find out why, go here. To see my new blog, which will include a discussion of the same kind of issues, go here. In sum, go here.

A-Rod, Steroids, and Naturalness

Readers of this blog might be interested in a discussion over at the Philosophy of Sport blog.

Should we become cyborgs?

I'm finishing up teaching a course on technology and values this semester, and the final book for the course is The Impact of the Internet on our Moral Lives. James Moor writes a chapter that asks whether or not we should let computers get under our skin. First, we can define a cyborg as someone who is part human, part computer. Moor points out that it is inevitable, i.e. that we will become cyborgs. The question we should be asking is, rather, what sort of cyborgs should we become? There is much more in this chapter worthy of discussion, but Moor's overall approach is a fairly standard one--we should be free, and responsible. What this means is that we should be free to do whatever we want in terms of computer implants, as long as we don't harm others. I used to think this was the best way to approach such issues, but now I have a sense that this approach is inadequate. That's a topic for another post (or book), however.

One ethical consideration in this realm has to do with control. Computer implants have the potential to enhance human agency as well as undermine it. They can enhance it by eliminating symptoms of Parkinson's disease, actions that result from obsessive-compulsive disorder, and other medical and psychiatric conditions. However, there is also the potential for our agency, or our control over our lives, to be undermined. Researchers have been able to control the behavior of rats by stimulating pleasure centers in rat brains. Perhaps something along these lines could be used to help people stop smoking or lose weight. These sorts of patients and people could regain control over their lives. The problem arises when we consider that there is also potential for giving up control over at least some aspects of our lives, if we are connected to the agency of others via wireless-enabled computer implants.

This all sounds very science-fictiony, but we should be thinking about these issues know and constructing an ethical approach for dealing with such potentialities, rather than merely reacting to the ones that ultimately do come to pass.

Immigration Ethics

When in all of the debates and discussion of immigration, possible amnesty, and a border fence have the following words come up?

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Capitalist Assault on Kids

This post over at Leiter Reports is worth reading and thinking about, especially for parents.