2025-12-18
Xinqing ZHANG, Xuan YANG
LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract in English. Focusing on the novel issue of moral bioenhancement, this article critiques the concept of ‘moral genetic enhancement’ on three fronts: its lack of a scientific basis, the inevitability of value conflict, and its destructive impact on the social–moral fabric. The article ultimately advocates for robust ethical oversight and public engagement to preserve the wholeness of human nature and the human essence of morality.
2025-12-18
Miao HE, Libo XU
LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract in English. In the article “Neuroessentialism and the Dilemma of Moral Bioenhancement”, Professor Xu Xiangdong transcends conventional ethical critiques centred on freedom, autonomy, and justice, as well as practical debates concerning technological risks and regulatory frameworks. Against the backdrop of the global human enhancement trend, he reframes the discourse on moral bioenhancement through a critique of neuro-essentialism. Rather than focusing solely on whether moral bioenhancement technology is feasible or desirable, Professor Xu elevates the discussion to a more fundamental philosophical inquiry: what it means to be human in the age of artificial intelligence.
2025-12-18
Yu CAI
LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract in English. The article “Can We Biotechnologically Construct a Morally Better Human?” systematically assesses the theoretical controversies, practical paths, and core dilemmas associated with moral enhancement via biotechnological means. The critique of technological rationality is a core issue in reflection on Western modernity. Moral enhancement technology restricts human freedom, allows technological rationality to control and infringe on human nature, and thus serves as a new form of technological violence and technological discipline imposed on individuals for social control and to meet social needs. Such technology does not receive support from Confucianism or Taoism.
2025-12-18
Xiangdong XU
LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract also in English. 道德生物增強一開始是某些理論家為了回應生物保守主義者對人類增強計劃的批評而提出的一個構想，後來被發展為一項實質性倡議，即通過直接調控人腦來改進人們的道德行為。通過批判性地審視這項倡議的基本預設，本文旨在表明，只要我們恰當地理解了人類認知和人類道德的本質，我們就不可能僅僅通過對人腦進行神經生物學干預來增強人類道德，因此，道德生物增強倡議不僅簡單化了我們對道德及其在人類生活中的地位的深思熟慮的理解，而且因其對一種極端的還原主義的承諾而是誤導性的。 The concept of moral bioenhancement was initially proposed by theorists in response to bioconservative critiques of the human enhancement project; later, it was advanced as the basis for an initiative to improve human beings’ moral behaviour by directly regulating the human brain. By critically examining the assumptions of this initiative, this article aims to show that it is impossible to enhance human morality merely through neurobiological intervention in the human brain, given the intrinsic nature of human cognition and human morality. Therefore, the moral bioenhancement initiative not only simplifies our understanding of morality and its position in human life but is also misleading, due to its commitment to an extreme version of reductionism.
2025-12-18
Xinxin YAO, Fuling WANG
LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract in English. Jason T. Eberl and Matilda Ajibola’s paper shifts the discussion of moral enhancement from abstract debates about moral permissibility and moral value to a cautious analysis of the feasibility, effectiveness, and potential risks of moral enhancement technology based on the current state of scientific research. This paper provides a response to the question of whether we can biotechnologically construct a morally better human: it is impossible for biomedical moral enhancement to shape a “virtuous person”, because it bypasses the reflection, practice, and struggle that are necessary for the cultivation of virtue and thus fails to fulfil the fundamental criterion for moral subjectivity. However, while traditional methods can help individuals acquire genuine and stable virtues, both biotechnological interventions and traditional education may face the same dilemma: the difficulty of truly accessing the internal structure of individual moral subjectivity while promoting external norms.
2025-12-18
Wenqing ZHAO
LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in English ; abstract in Chinese. 本文以視別視角對傑森．T．埃伯爾和瑪蒂達．阿吉博拉對道德生物增強的分析進行評論。雖然他們將道德主體視為一般代理人，但我認為現實世界中最明顯的道德生物增強候選對象是男性，特別是在減少暴力方面。基於這種性別視角，我主張他們的分析忽略了受害者所承受的非增強成本，而受害者主要是女性和兒童。我進一步利用他們所提及的哈里．富蘭克福一階欲望和二階欲望理論，展示生物技術干預如何通過更好地將潛在施暴者的第一階攻擊性衝動與其更高階承諾對齊，來幫助解決家庭虐待這類典型案例。最後，我將持續證明任何充分的道德生物增強倫理都必須包含對攻擊性和暴力的生物學基礎的明確說明。
2025-12-18
Shane RYAN, Felix S. H. YEUNG
LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in English ; abstract in Chinese. 埃伯爾（Eberl）和阿吉博拉（Ajibola）主張在特定條件下通過生物技術手段實現道德增強。我們注意到兩位作者在論文中關於道德增強的社會正當性辯護。這種辯護使得對道德增強施加相關的規範性（政治性）約束變得必要。因此，兩位作者若能更多地從政治維度考量其所持有的觀點，將會有所裨益。 基於此，我們的評論結合政治自由主義的關鍵理念，探討了兩位元作者的視角與自由主義在善的問題上的中立性之間的張力。作為這一討論的一部分，我們詳細闡述了助推（nudging）——兩位作者為實現道德增強所訴諸的一種手段——為何也面臨著自由主義的挑戰。
2025-12-18
Yiming LIU, Jinglin ZHOU
LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract in English. Jason T. Eberl and Matilda Ajibola’s article “Can We Biotechnologically Construct a Morally Better Human?” offers profound insights grounded in virtue ethics, emphasising that moral improvement should rely on autonomy and practice. The authors’ proposition that traditional methods of moral enhancement hold advantages in terms of both ethical and practical feasibility is well taken. However, their proposed implementation of this approach appears conservative, as the article overlooks the potential of non- biotechnological tools such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality to supplement traditional moral cultivation. Furthermore, the authors propose an exception for bioenhancement in cases of “weakness of will” ( akrasia ). However, the ambiguous boundaries of this exception could lead to a “slippery slope” whereby the scope of intervention is expanded to the point at which technology gradually substitutes for the internal effort essential to moral growth. Overall, while the article constructs a solid ethical defence in theory, it falls short in demonstrating practical feasibility in an era of advanced technology.