I’m helping to organize a new series of symposia on papers published in the journal Neuroethics over at Brains Blog.
The first symposium has been published, and I highly recommend that anyone interested in cognitive enhancement (particularly moral enhancement) and personal identity take a look. The target article, by Farah Focquaert and Maartje Schermer, argues that the direct/indirect distinction often used to analyze enhancements is only useful insofar as it tracks whether the person enhanced was actively involved in the process. Focquaert and Schermer argue that if the recipient is passive (as is the case with DBS or drug interventions), then it is more likely that there will be disruptions to her identity.
The commentaries provided on Focquaert and Schermer’s article are excellent, as are their replies. Overall, the symposium provides a wide-ranging introduction to moral enhancement: I plan to use the symposium as required reading in my Neuroethics course.
Pleas and Excuses 