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Human Enhancement, Transhuman Warfare and the Question: What Does It Mean to Be Human?

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Ethics of Medical Innovation, Experimentation, and Enhancement in Military and Humanitarian Contexts

Part of the book series: Military and Humanitarian Health Ethics ((MHHE))

Abstract

Human enhancement is one of the crucial topics when it comes to identifying the challenges which military medical ethics will have to face in the future. Today, a huge number of possible applications for enhancement techniques are being subjected to rigorous research in natural and technology sciences as well as humanities. The case of the German professor Helmut Dubiel (1946–2015) gives an insight into techniques which can be applied for both medical and non-medical reasons in a very impressive way. A definition of human enhancement is given based on Gernot Böhme’s concept of invasive techniques. Human enhancement may be characterized by three crucial aspects: The fact that (1) invasive techniques are applied for (2) non-medical reasons to (3) overcome the limits of man as a member of the species homo sapiens. The use of human enhancement techniques in a military context, has serious consequences for our understanding of warfare. Conflicts deploying enhanced soldiers could be characterized as transhuman warfare. This possibility invites us at the very least to recollect the crucial concepts both in humanitarian law and military medical ethics.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Teaching and Research Unit for Military Medical Ethics, Bundeswehr Medical Academy Munich, Munich, Germany

    Dirk Fischer

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  1. Dirk Fischer
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Correspondence to Dirk Fischer .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Zurich Center for Military Medical Ethics, Center for Ethics, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland

    Daniel Messelken

  2. Center of Reference for Education on IHL & Ethics, International Committee of Military Medicine, Bern, Switzerland

    David Winkler

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Fischer, D. (2020). Human Enhancement, Transhuman Warfare and the Question: What Does It Mean to Be Human?. In: Messelken, D., Winkler, D. (eds) Ethics of Medical Innovation, Experimentation, and Enhancement in Military and Humanitarian Contexts. Military and Humanitarian Health Ethics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36319-2_9

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