Beyond Humanity? The Ethics of Biomedical Enhancement

Allen Buchanan is an accomplished political philosopher and the lead author, with Dan W. Brock, Norman Daniels, and Daniel Wikler, of From Chance to Choice (Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 2000), which, to date, remains the single most important and comprehensive investigation of the ethical issues raised by the use of genetic technologies to select or modify our children. The publication of his book, Beyond humanity?, on the topic of human enhancement more generally, is therefore to be welcomed by all those interested in what has become one of the most vigorous debates in applied ethics. The book is rich in ideas, philosophical informed, and clearly argued; it is undoubtedly destined to become an essential point of reference in future debates about the use of technology to improve human capacities.