An Ethical Perspective on Nanotechnology, Health and Longevity

摘要

The idea that nanotechnology may be able to aid human health is not new, and there is now considerable literature describing ways that the technology will contribute to human health and to longevity. Barring harmful side effects, these developments seem to be unmitigated goods, but some interesting underlying ethical questions are worthy of examination. Some of these questions concern the ability of humans to cope with the required level of change that longer life spans would entail, the population problem, and perhaps most importantly, the power that humans would have if they could improve health to the extent that the ageing process could be reversed or slowed dramatically. Other questions concern the quality versus quantity of life, the fairness of the distribution of the benefits of improved health and longevity, and some arguments concerning life and death that seem to underpin some of the prevailing views.