This project, funded by the Ethics and Values in Science, Engineering and Technology component of the Science and Society Program, focuses on the ethical, social, and related philosophical issues that arise in the application of nanotechnology to human enhancement. While nanotechnology is not the only technology that can be applied to human enhancement, it is and will be a core one; without it many current and future enhancements would not be possible. These technological possibilities will derive from many sources, especially nanoelectronics and nanomaterials. For example, nanotechnologically-augmented vision (already under development) could amplify the natural vision of a soldier so that s/he could see more than they naturally would, perhaps finding tunnels hidden from natural sight. This research will examine aspects of nanotechnologically-facilitated human enhancement, particularly the associative ethical questions: it will seek to provide a comprehensive ethical account of these enhancements. The project will also develop a set of guidelines that specify what kinds of enhancements are acceptable and which are not, and under what circumstances. The research will engage the current literature on enhancement, though a focus on nanotechnology will force this traditional framework to be reconceived in new and exciting directions. The research will seek a balanced approach that seeks to integrate and acknowledge various ethical considerations, paying particular attention to consequentialist and deontological arguments for and against enhancements. The research team includes an experienced group of researchers with strong publication records in the fields of ethics and technology in general, as well as in nanoethics in particular. Furthermore, this research will be both scientifically informed and respectable: all members of the team have strong backgrounds in the sciences, including strong grounding in the nanosciences, and have secured commitments from scientists working in the field (and especially from Dartmouth's Center for Nanomaterials Research) to keep the research team appraised of new developments as well as to contribute to the first proposed workshop. The research will have a real impact beyond the confines of academia, including contributions to public policy and the ethical development of nanotechnology. The project will result in several publications, including an edited anthology of papers in nanoethics and several publications in academic journals, as well as two workshops and university course development.
