The irrationality of human confidence that an ageless existence would be better
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21702360 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Susan B Levin (0000-0001-7083-6098, Smith College, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 45 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 277-301 |
| Publication date | 2024-08-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Metamedicine (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0166-2031 • E-ISSN: 1573-1200 |
| Publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1007/s11017-024-09674-2 |
| PMID | 38886240 |
| OpenAlex | W4399792160 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 37 |
Transhumanists and their fellow travelers urge humanity to prioritize the development of biotechnologies that would eliminate aging, delivering ‘an endless summer of literally perpetual youth.’ Aspiring not to age instantiates what philosopher Martha Nussbaum calls the yearning for ‘external transcendence,’ or the fundamental surpassing of human bounds due to confidence that life without them would be better. Based on Immanuel Kant’s account of the parameters of human understanding, I argue that engineering agelessness could not be a rational priority for humanity on the level of public policy. This stance is complemented by an argument focused on individual decision-making in liberal-democratic milieus, where no governing conception of the good is presumed and the first-personal level matters greatly. Here, drawing on philosopher and cognitive scientist Laurie Ann Paul’s concept of ‘transformative experience,’ I maintain that individuals could not ‘rationally,’ meaning, here, ‘prudentially,’ say ‘yes’ to agelessness. Absorbing the irrationality of human zeal to eliminate aging, based on assurance that an ageless existence would be better, should spur a redoubled dedication to human flourishing
Democracy · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Flourishing · Human enhancement · Humanity · Irrationality · Political science · Politics · Rationality · Sociology · Transformative learning · Law · Medicine · Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology · Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life
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Do immortals need an eject button? Sartre and the importance of always having an exit
The Burden and Blessing of Mortality
Kant's Theory of Mental Activity
Vulnerability and Human Rights
On the putative possibility of non‐spatio‐temporal forms of sensibility in Kant
Kant
Modern attitudes toward older adults in the aging world
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,5 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2026 (3) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |