New Questions, or Only Old Questions in a New Guise?

Abstract

This comment reminds us that technological developments can redraw the boundaries of our concepts, introduce new ones and change interpretations, and it asks to what extent the BMI experiments covered by Kevin Warwick’s article have such implications. The distinction between human enhancement and improvement is raised and the fact that consenting to uncertain and unforeseeable outcomes is always challenging. But why is it more challenging to consent to an intelligent implant, although it may change emotions, personality and even identity, than consenting to other interventions that risk one’s life? Our bodies and psychological states undergo enormous changes over time, some of which affect freedom of action. Natural functions of the brain can be as much of a threat to freedom of action, personality and identity as a BMI or drug use. How we are to understand the “I” is an ongoing philosophical puzzle, but an intelligent implant may well be acceptable if natural brain function no longer does what the “I” wants it to do.