Posthuman Bliss?

Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Assessing Transhumanist Advocacy of Cognitive Bioenhancement 1. Introduction 2. The (Unsuccessful) Essentialism of Enhancement Critics 3. Transhumanists' Rational Essentialism: An Avowed Enlightenment Legacy 4. The "Cognitive" in "Cognitive Enhancement": Its Meaning and Backdrop 5. Why Are Transhumanists So Confident that Cognitive Enhancement Is Upon Us? 6. Hoisting Transhumanists by Their Own (Mental) Petard 7. Conclusion 2. Why We Should Reject Transhumanists' Entire Lens on the Mind and Brain 1. Introduction 2. Basic-Emotion and Dual-Process Approaches to Emotions and the Brain 3. The Superior Lens of Appraisal Theory 4. The Wider Resonance of Scherer's Theory 5. Aristotle's Lens on the Mind 6. The Alignment of Aristotle's Theory with Contemporary Science 7. Casebeer's "Neo-Aristotelian" Position 8. Conclusion 3. Evaluating the Debate Thus Far over Moral Bioenhancement 1. Setting the Stage 2. What, Specifically, Should Moral Bioenhancement Be Directed To? 3. Practical Proof of Concept for Moral Bioenhancement? 4. Evolutionary Biology, Evolutionary Psychology, and Morality 5. An Alternate Focus on Erasing Antisociality 6. Trading Psychological Richness and Freedom for Survival 7. Conclusion 4. Utilitarian Commitments of Transhumanists and Their Sociopolitical Implications 1. Introduction 2. General Features of Utilitarianism 3. "Health" and "Public Health": Relating Transhumanism to Wider Trends 4. Transhumanists' Display of Utilitarian Commitments and Their Sociopolitical Implications 5. Resource Allocation 6. The Moral Permissibility of Using Reproductive Technologies to Avoid Disease and Disability 7. Conclusion 5. Creating a Higher Breed: Transhumanism and the Prophecy of Anglo-American Eugenics 1. Introduction 2. The Need for a Fuller Assessment of Transhumanists' Claims about Earlier Eugenics 3. Human Agency Creates, Then Becomes, the Divine 4. Our Elevation with Respect to "Non-Disease" Conditions 5. In Tandem, Eliminate the Allegedly Deleterious 6. The Great Wingspan of Public Health 7. Shared Utilitarian Commitments 8. Sociopolitical Commitments and Implications 9. Conclusion 6. Transhumanists' Informational View of Being and Knowledge 1. Introduction 2. A Historical Foray 3. Persistence, Problems, Pitfalls 4. Kant versus Transhumanism 5. Conclusion 7. Living Virtuously as a Regulative Ideal 1. Introduction 2. Ancient Greek Ethics 3. We Need Not Be Made to Care about Virtue 4. What Now? 5. What Now? Part Two: Our Civic Scene 6. Perfectionism Suitable for Human Beings: Living Virtuously as a Regulative Ideal 7. Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index