Beyond Therapy and Enhancement: The Alteration of Human Nature

With the rapid progress and considerable promise of nanobiotechnology/neurosciences there is the potential of transforming the very nature of human beings and of how humans can conceive of themselves as rational animals through technological innovations. The interface between humans and machines (neuro-digital interface), can potentially alter what it means to be human, i.e., the very idea of human nature and of normal functioning will be changed. In this paper, I argue that we are potentially on the verge of a paradigm shift in terms of the ends and goals of techno-science and its applications in the biomedical sciences. In particular, the development of brain-computer interfaces could reconceptualize the very notion of what it means to be human. Hence, we should not limit our reflections of applications in terms of therapy and enhancement but also include an examination of applications aiming at the alteration of human nature. To this end I will first delineate the potential paradigm shift and then map out four distinct clusters of concerns in relation to the brain-computer interface. Finally, I argue that our moral and philosophical reflections should follow a procedural model based on managed consensus due to our pluralistic context.

Evolutionary Perspectives and Transdisciplinary Intersections: A Roadmap to Generative Areas of Overlap in Discussing Human Nature

This essay assesses a subset of approaches to the topic of human nature(s) and endeavors to identify generative areas of overlap for transdisciplinary conversation. Rather than pursue a resolution to the problem of potentially incompatible frameworks across perspectives, I seek to provide a template, or a roadmap, for a better conversation. My conclusions derive from a targeted literature assessment of subareas within the disciplines of philosophy, biology, anthropology, psychology, and theology, emphasizing those open to evolutionary contexts. I highlight eighteen core elements/themes and propose a few central thematic clusters as foci for moving the exchange on human nature between theology and science forward.     

The Origin and Differentiation of the Theories of Human Nature in Pre-Qin China

In early China, views concerning human nature underwent significant development, with philosophers moving from seeing it as desire or instinct to seeing it as virtue or essence. Before Confucius’s time, human beings’ xing, or nature, was construed as desire and instinct, i.e., as a physical nature. The key problem faced by theorists of human nature at that time was how to manage nature with virtue, i.e., how to use virtue to both control and enrich nature. A later, wide-reaching development was the use of qi to explain human nature. Laozi began, taking de or virtue to be the internal essence of the human being; Confucius took de or virtue to be xing or nature. Following this development, the main current of the theory of human nature in the pre-Qin period divided into two branches. One, created by the later Confucius, inherited in part by Zisi, and developed by Mencius, took virtue as nature and insisted on the a priority of internal morality. The other branch, inherited in part by Zisi and developed by the author of Xing Zi Ming Chu and Xunzi, featured the development of the old tradition which took yu, or desire, as nature.     

Nanotechnology, Enhancement, and Human Nature

Is nanotechnology-based human enhancement morally permissible? One reason to question such enhancement stems from a concern for preserving our species. It is harder than one might think, however, to explain what could be wrong with altering our own species. One possibility is to turn to the environmental ethics literature. Perhaps some of the arguments for preserving other species can be applied against nanotechnology-based human enhancements that alter human nature. This paper critically examines the case for using two of the strongest arguments in the environmental ethics literature to show that nanotechnology-based human enhancements are impermissible: 1) Our species, like many other naturally occurring species, has aesthetic value. So, nanotechnology-based human enhancements that alter our species should be prohibited. 2) Our species plays valuable ecological roles. Nanotechnology-based human enhancements that alter our species are likely to interfere with our species playing our ecologically valuable roles. So, such enhancements should be prohibited. Neither argument, ultimately, proves conclusive. The paper concludes, however, that considerations underlying both arguments may show us that some nanotechnology-based human enhancements are impermissible.     

The Human Relation With Nature and Technological Nature

ABSTRACT— Two world trends are powerfully reshaping human existence: the degradation, if not destruction, of large parts of the natural world, and unprecedented technological development. At the nexus of these two trends lies technological nature—technologies that in various ways mediate, augment, or simulate the natural world. Current examples of technological nature include videos and live webcams of nature, robot animals, and immersive virtual environments. Does it matter for the physical and psychological well-being of the human species that actual nature is being replaced with technological nature? As the basis for our provisional answer (it is "yes"), we draw on evolutionary and cross-cultural developmental accounts of the human relation with nature and some recent psychological research on the effects of technological nature. Finally, we discuss the issue—and area for future research—of "environmental generational amnesia." The concern is that, by adapting gradually to the loss of actual nature and to the increase of technological nature, humans will lower the baseline across generations for what counts as a full measure of the human experience and of human flourishing.     

Terrorism in the Evolution Wars: Mass Media and Human Nature

Antievolutionist and New Atheist pundits invoke the specter of terrorism in widely distributed mass media. Notably, allusions to terrorism within such Evolution Wars communications are frequently associated with discourse on human nature, morality, and values. Such discourse includes references to substantive and relational traits linked with human distinctiveness, as well as the moral implications of evolution and religion. This paper examines broadcasts disseminated by the most media vocal Darwin skeptics and New Atheists, revealing the ways in which the dread of terrorism is married to discussions of evolutionary theory.     

基因与人性:影响人性的若干基因

人类行为既受到遗传因素的影响,同时也受到环境(文化)因素的影响。近年来逐渐引起众多学科领域关注的行为遗传学研究从行为的基因关联出发,系统研究了行为的遗传因素及其基因基础,取得了令人瞩目的成绩。该文系统总结了八种人类重要行为的基因基础及其与环境因素的关系,并从基因与人性的关系角度进行了讨论。     

人类增强技术的发展与人性的论争

对于科技的发展,不能非此即彼,采取极端的态度,而是应该采用审视和适应的态度来面对,应理性地分析科技所带来的危险与拯救的共存现象。因而对于人类增强技术的争议不是“会不会”的事实判断,而是“应不应该”的伦理价值表述。现代技术危机的实质并不是技术本身的危机,而是价值危机和伦理危机。因而需要建立具有建设性的讨论机制,其决策必须由有责任感的、谨慎对待利益和风险的、尊重自主权和个人权利的、关注所有人利益和尊严的道德眼光来引导,必须关注子孙后代的利益,且需要承担相应的道德责任。

     

The Implications of Prospect Theory for Human Nature and Values

Central to prospect theory are far-reaching claims about what people fear and what gratifies them. Subjective well-being is a topic that social science has been reluctant to discuss in recent years, but it is central to much of our lives. A loss inflicts more harm than a comparable gain produces pleasure; this fact and the related endowment effect are important parts of our psychological makeup. The importance of change rather than absolute value position, and the related significance of the reference point and how it can be altered, can be seen as integral to human nature.     

心理辅导三大理论之人性观之剖析

人性观是对人的基本看法和哲学假设,在心理咨询和资料中,人性观是一切方法和技术的理论基础。在回答什么是人性和人性观的基础上,总结出人性观所应回答的基本问题,依据精神分析、行为主义和人本主义三大辅导流派对人性观基本问题所作的回答,剖析了三大流派的人性观。     

中国儒家文化中的人性观

介绍了孟子的性善论,荀子的性恶论,告子的人性无善无恶论,以及扬雄的人性善恶相混论。希望通过对儒家文化的分析来为传统文化对人格形成的影响提供参考。     

幸灾乐祸：人性“底部”的邪恶快感

幸灾乐祸, 指因他人的厄运而快乐。幸灾乐祸的本质属性是一种阴暗的情感, 作为一种基于社会竞争和社会比较的社会情感, 它是情境化的、由多因素决定, 具有积极的情感效价, 且不利于人际和谐, 具有反社会性。幸灾乐祸的前因可由目标定向、关系定向和综合定向三种分类体系进行解释; 功能研究方面, 自我提升是当下主流观点; 在前因和功能之间, 还应存在机制研究, 表现为工作机制的反照效应假设和流动补偿假设。     

自然内在价值的哲学论证

自然内在价值的问题 ,是生态伦理学理论的基本问题 ,又是它的理论论证中疑惑最多、论证最困难的问题。我们需要把目的论、存在论和价值论统一起来 ,从“主 -客关系”统一的角度 ,进行它的哲学论证。     

The Episodic Nature of Experience: A Dynamical Systems Analysis

Context is an important construct in many domains of cognition, including learning, memory, and emotion. We used dynamical systems methods to demonstrate the episodic nature of experience by showing a natural separation between the scales over which within‐context and between‐context relationships operate. To do this, we represented an individual's emails extending over about 5 years in a high‐dimensional semantic space and computed the dimensionalities of the subspaces occupied by these emails. Personal discourse has a two‐scaled geometry with smaller within‐context dimensionalities than between‐context dimensionalities. Prior studies have shown that reading experience (Doxas, Dennis, & Oliver, 2010) and visual experience (Sreekumar, Dennis, Doxas, Zhuang, & Belkin, 2014) have a similar two‐scaled structure. Furthermore, the recurrence plot of the emails revealed that experience is predictable and hierarchical, supporting the constructs of some influential theories of memory. The results demonstrate that experience is not scale‐free and provide an important target for accounts of how experience shapes cognition.     

《管子》的天地人和合观探析

《管子》的"和合"是一种差等和合,治国理念以天地人和合观为基础,建立了形而上的天地和合道德根据,治国的目标是为了达到社会和合偕习,和合观的使用在方法上运用个人内心和合、国家内外和合达到国家治理,形下之用体现于政治上政通人和以实现天地人和。管子之所以成为我国春秋初期著名的政治家,是因为他的治国理念高远、方法得当、运用适宜,既有道德感化,又有法治辅助,还有礼义调和,实现了社会上下和合、内外和合、形上形下和合。     

Growth,Experience and Nature in Dewey's Philosophy and Chinese Philosophy

Growth is an important concept in Dewey's philosophy,and,indeed,its ultimate focus.It is not,however,an easy task to posit growth as an ethical ideal,for here Dewey immediately faces a metaphysical dilemma:whether to offer us an objective standard of growth,which becomes a type of absolutism,or to inevitably fall into relativism.This paper explores how Dewey avoids this dilemma with his concept of experience,which is interrogated through the relationship between human beings and nature.Still,human growth in nature involves the cultivation of virtuosities (de德) in accordance with the rhythm of nature,and requires a completely different way of life other than our technological one.For this reason,I use Chinese philosophy,specifically ideas from the Yijing,to show how growth can be illustrated through the interaction between humans and the natural world.     

哈贝马斯关于基因技术应用的人性论论证

现代生物工程技术的迅猛发展使人类对自身生命过程的干预和控制成为可能,与此同时也对人的尊严和价值构成了极大的挑战和冲击。在新的情势下,怎样利用技术才能避免伤害,体现尊重人的精神?哈贝马斯从人性论的角度出发,认为每个人只有将自己看作是人类当中的一个平等的成员,是人种当中的一个份子,才能避免对其他生命控制和操纵,才能避免对待他人的工具化态度。只有从人类学的广阔视野出发,变人与人之间的主客体关系为主体间性关系,才能深刻理解生命伦理学尊重原则的哲学基础和人文内涵,从而为技术的道德化使用指明了方向。     

性善:一种引导性的概念--孟子性善论的哲学意蕴与方法内涵

长期以来,学术界把孟子的性善观念理解为一种先验性的学说,但是,本文认为。先验／经验的范畴归属于认知性的哲学(cognitive philosophy),其论证功能更多的指向理论。而不是规范。而孟子的性善说却以对于“以故言性”的认知性的人性理论的批判为其出发点,后者所导致的理论结果往往是“以情才代性”,也就说,认知性的人性论触及的总是“情”与“才”,而不是真正的“性”。而孟子本人的性善论不是对于人性所表现出来的经验性事实的理论解释,其功能主要是规范性的,可以将之理解为一种引导性(orientative)的概念,它的主旨不在于获得某种知识理论,而是在实现人与世界的某种转化。     

“道”性、“水”性、人性、中国人人格

＂道＂性-＂水＂性-人性-中国人人格具有内在一致性,形成了一个一以贯之的有机体系。在这一有机体系中,作为＂道＂性的＂代言人＂,＂水＂性成为＂道＂性与人性及中国人人格间的＂中介者＂。以＂几于道＂的＂水＂为中介,通过对道家思想的分析,反观得到了道家思想影响下中国人的人性建构及人格特征,具体表现为：在思维上明＂道＂并懂得＂道＂的运行规律,以联系、变化和矛盾的眼光看待万事万物,情绪情感上静而不躁,意志品质上柔韧而不强作妄为,行事处世上既超脱一已之私、于物寡欲,又能待人谦退不争,并能从整体上显现出＂道＂之＂自然本真＂的根本特性。文末探讨了道家思想文化影响下,所形成的中国人独特的人格特征与现代化建设事业可能的适应情形。     

论朱熹对"继善成性"说的规范

"继善成性"是易学哲学的重要问题.朱熹解释"继善成性"总体上不是为字义的通顺,而在为他的理学本体论作论证.理上气下的基本原则通过易学的语言进一步得到贯彻.善与性、天与人、未发与已发、天理流行与人物成性等,虽也体现了天人之间的密切关联,但又不能将一般天理与已具形质的人性混淆起来."继善成性"说的优长,就在于它将由天至人的生成序列,解释为一个以天道为本而构筑本性的思辨逻辑,同时兼顾个体形质生成带来的特殊性.而本性只是"存"而非"成",以卫护本然之性纯善无恶的假定.