Allen Buchanan, “Better than Human: The Promise and Perils of Enhancing Ourselves” (Oxford UP, 2011)
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What is the central argument of Buchanan’s ‘Better Than Human’ about biomedical enhancement?
Hello and welcome to the New Books and Philosophy channel of the New Books Network. My name is Robert Talise and I am co host of the channel along with Carrie Figter. In our bi monthly podcast we talk with philosophers about their newly published books. Today. I'll be talking with Professor Allen Buchanan about his new book. Better than human. Which was published a few months ago by Oxford University Press. Alan Buchanan is James B. Duke, professor of philosophy. and professor of law at Duke University. Buchanan begins his book with the following observations. It's too late to just say no to biomedical enhancements. They're already here. And more are on the way. According to Buchanan. The question is how we should respond to these facts.
Some philosophers want to pretend. That we can just say no to enhancements. Whereas others promote wild eyed fantasies of a posthuman technological utopia. In better than human. Buchanan pursues the dual objective. of criticizing both of these camps. and then proposing a sensible middle way between them. Contending that there is no point. to being anti enhancement in any wholesale way. He seeks a view of biomedical enhancement that can effectively manage the moral risks inherent in the enhancement enterprise. Consequently Better Than Human offers a philosophically compelling roadmap to the enhancement debates. While also sketching a realistic approach to the moral and political issues. So let's turn to the interview.
Hello Alan Buchanan. Hello? How are you? Good, how are you doing today?
I'm fine, thank you.
Excellent. Um thank you so much for joining us on New Books and Philosophy. And today, uh on New Books and Philosophy, I'll be talking to Alan Buchanan about his new book, Better Than Human, which was published a few months ago with Oxford University Press. Better Than Human is a concise and tightly argued book that addresses the moral and political issues. surrounding emerging human enhancement technology. including biological enhancement technology. The book is lively and engaging and in my view uh offers a thoroughly sensible uh approach uh to these important issues. So I recommend it highly. But before we get into our discussion of better than human, Alan, why don't you take a few moments and tell us a little bit about yourself?
Well thank you. Um I started out in philosophy in a completely different area. I worked on Kant's metaphysics and epistemology. And then uh one day the chairman of my department came in and said, uh There's a chap uh on the phone from a neonatal intensive care unit. I'm not sure exactly what that is, and he says he wants some ethical guidance and uh you're you're Sometimes think about ethics, don't you, Alan? Why don't you call him and talk to him? Well I did. And I ended up uh being an advisor uh on a uh needle na neonatal intensive care unit. For ethical issues. concerning severely uh compromised newborns uh termination of treatment decisions. And uh I found this very fascinating and I started looking into the bioethics literature and I didn't find
Much that I agreed with, so I started writing. And then uh someone noticed my writing, and I uh was asked to be uh staff philosopher for the President's Commission on Medical Ethics in the early nineteen eighties. Uh in Washington. And that got me further into bioethics, uh and uh Things just sort of took off uh from there. There was never any really any planning about this. But always at the same time I was working in um political philosophy. And I think it's been somewhat of an advantage for me in bioethics that I look at many issues from the standpoint of a political philosopher and tend to think in terms of institutions and in terms of power relationships. And I think that's uh beneficial almost always in looking at bioethical issues.
And I think that in this book that we're talking about better than human. That comes out pretty clearly. I think that um most of the people who participated in the enhancement debate. Have not really been able to look at things very clearly from an institutional standpoint.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the central argument of Buchanan’s ‘Better Than Human’ about biomedical enhancement?
0:05–9:07
2
How does Buchanan’s personal and professional background shape his view on enhancement?
9:07–22:59
3
What distinction does Buchanan draw between anti‑enhancement and anti‑anti‑enhancement positions?
22:59–36:25
4
Why does Buchanan argue that rejecting all enhancements is a mistaken stance?
36:25–46:23
5
How does evolutionary biology inform Buchanan’s critique of anti‑enhancement arguments?
46:23–56:01
6
What justice concerns does Buchanan raise regarding the accessibility and distribution of enhancements?
56:01–1:04:51
7
What practical ‘rules of thumb’ does Buchanan propose for managing risks of biomedical enhancements?
1:04:51–1:13:55
8
What future projects and broader implications does Buchanan discuss at the end of the interview?
1:13:55–1:17:26
Speakers
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