The ethics of infinite impact

ABSTRACT

Transhumanism, the research program devoted to increasing our physical and mental abilities and lengthening our lifespan, casts light on the term ‘responsible innovation’. The goals of the transhumanists strike some as ludicrous, but the space between transhumanist pipedreams and the sober plans of the research community are essentially the same. This implies that talk of ‘responsible innovation’ is a cheat, for there is nothing responsible, or ethical, about a research culture whose goals are implicitly infinite.

KEYWORDS:

• Impact
• innovation
• transhumanism
• ethics

Notes on contributor

Robert Frodeman is Professor of Philosophy at the University of North Texas. His work ranges across environmental philosophy, the philosophy of science and technology policy, and the philosophy of interdisciplinarity. Frodeman is the author and/or editor of nine books, most recently Sustainable Knowledge: a theory of interdisciplinarity (Palgrave McMillan, 2013); and Socrates Tenured: The Institutions of twenty-first Century Philosophy (Roman and Littlefield), published in 2016.

Notes

1. Newt Gingrich, in ‘Trump has long vowed to slash government. Now the knives are finally coming out.’ Juliet Eilperin, Washington Post, February 26, 2018.