BMC Medical Ethics

On normative judgments and ethics

Ognjen ArandjelovićEmail author

BMC Medical EthicsBMC series – open, inclusive and trusted201617:75

DOI: 10.1186/s12910-016-0155-8

Received: 17 May 2016

Accepted: 27 October 2016

Published: 22 November 2016

Open Peer Review reports

Abstract

Recent rapid technological and medical advance has more than ever before brought to the fore a spectrum of problems broadly categorized under the umbrella of ‘ethics of human enhancement’. Some of the most contentious issues are typified well by the arguments put forward in a recent article on human cognitive enhancement authored by Garasic and Lavazza. Herein I analyse some of the assumptions made in their work and highlight important flaws. In particular I address the problems associated with the distinction between ‘treatment’ and ‘enhancement’, and ‘natural’ vs. ‘non-natural’ therapies.