何为“增强”:比较生物保守主义与超人类主义的一个视角

What Is“Enhancement”?A Perspective Comparing Bioconservatism and Transhumanism

人类增强技术的伦理讨论面临“增强”概念的界定难题,对“增强”概念的不同理解直接影响了人们对待此技术的态度,并形成了生物保守主义与超人类主义两大阵营。双方都根据道义论和效果论等主流伦理学的观点,给出了自己的道德理由。通过对两大阵营的批判性考察可知,生物保守主义与超人类主义之间存在根本分歧,这一分歧不仅在于如何界定“增强”概念本身,还在于他们在界定该概念时所遵循的哲学范式与研究进路的差异,即对人与技术关系、技术与伦理关系问题的不同回答。通过对比二者在应对超人类革命危机时所采取的不同理论策略,可以看出坚持“内在主义”研究进路的超人类主义在本体论和认识论层面上的理论优势。

The ethical discussion on human enhancement technology faces difficult problems in defining the concept of“enhancement”.Different understandings of the concept of“enhancement”directly affect people s attitudes towards this technology,and form two groups:bioconservatism and transhumanism.Both sides give their own moral justifications based on the views of mainstream ethics such as deontology and consequentialism.A critical examination of the two main groups reveals that there is a fundamental divergence between bioconservatism and transhumanism,not only in how the concept of“enhancement”itself is defined,but also in the philosophical paradigms and research approaches they follow in defining it,i.e.different answers to the questions about the relationship between human beings and technology,technology and ethics.By comparing the different theoretical strategies adopted by the two in dealing with the crisis of transhumanism revolution,we can see the theoretical advantages of transhumanism that adhere to the“internalism”approach at the ontological and epistemological levels.