Moral Bioenhancement for Space: Should We Enhance Morally Future Deep-Space Astronauts and Space Settlers?

Abstract

The idea of moral bioenhancement has been discussed in recent years by ethicists and philosophers. While such discussion covers many different issues on Earth, they have not yet been considered in the context of future human space missions. In this paper, we discuss the bioethics of biomedical moral enhancement for space whether it is possible, probable, and preferable. We show that the ethical context of moral bioenhancement for space differs from analogical contexts on Earth. We point out that space exploration policy should take into account the possibility of moral bioenhancement.

Topics & Concepts