Approaches to moral bioenhancement in classical and liberal eugenics

Background: The general trend towards the moralization of society, associated both with attempts to overcome the state of social and political crises, and determined by the general tendency to accept the Other, determines the need to address issues of moral improvement of moral agents. At first glance, biological improvement seems more reliable, because in the future it is more stable and predictable. In this regard, it seems extremely important to turn to the tradition of eugenic discussions.

Aim: To analyze approaches to improving a moral agent using biological methods in domestic and world science.

Materials and methods: To achieve the goal of the work, materials from the Galton School of Eugenics, policy articles of the Russian Eugenics Society by N.K. were analyzed. Koltsov and the modern discourse of liberal eugenics.

Results: On the one hand, the biological improvement of a moral agent seems to be more predictable (in the case of relevant research) and more sustainable. On the other hand, history shows us the risks of this approach. The failure of classical eugenics, which degenerated in Europe into Nazi practices, and political decisions close to them in the USA seems obvious. Modern «liberal eugenics», in attempts to solve these problems, runs into the risks of discrimination.

Conclusion: For more than a century, moral bioenhancement scholars have failed to offer specific criteria for a moral agent. Based on the analysis of eugenic discourse, the article raises ethical questions, the answers to which must be given to the scientific community before conducting practical experiments.