Sustainable Week: Fixing Our Broken Moral Compass

What if we could fix a broken moral compass? According to bioethicist and sociologist James J. Hughes of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, we're already there.

In a provocative piece published in the Washington Post last month, Hughes cites dopamine-stimulating ADHD medications as current examples of "moral enhancement," and argues that other treatments like gene therapies and implants will soon follow, even if usage "will not be voluntary."

If this sounds unsettling, you are not alone. Elliot Hosman of the Center for Genetics and Society, who previously spoke to BTRtoday about this "socially dangerous" slope, weighs in on Hughes' claims.

Hosman believes that the field of behavioral genetics is fraught with biases, mishaps, and "conflicts of interest that warp the scientific process." They assert that Hughes' characterizations are "reductive" in the way that they misrepresent the nuances of the field; while Hughes believes that "criminality" and "sexual promiscuity" are genetically predetermined, Hosman insists that this is contradicted by both genetics and the social sciences. They further warn of "genetic determinism," the notion that there is "inherent value" in...