Can Moral Enhancement Address Humanity’s Existential Threats?

道德增强是人类走出生存危机的有效途径吗?

Abstract

Moral enhancement refers to the use of technologies, such as biomedical interventions or artificial intelligence (AI), to improve an individual’s moral motivation or cognitive capacities, thereby fostering moral development and addressing humanity’s existential crises like ecological degradation and terrorism. This topic has become one of the most popular in contemporary applied ethics. In contrast to applied ethics, a significant trend in normative ethics is the study of moral progress, which examines how society as a whole can improve morally. Although closely related, research on social moral progress and individual moral enhancement rarely cross-reference each other. However, the goal of moral enhancement can only be achieved through the moral progress of society as a whole, and social moral progress, in turn, depends on individuals developing relevant motivations and cognitive capacities. This article aims to bridge these two areas, arguing that only by promoting overall moral progress in society – establishing moral principles and distribution systems that place greater emphasis on equality – can humanity’s existential crises be alleviated, and moral enhancement has a unique role within this framework. While technological advancements have brought unprecedented benefits to human society, they have also led to unique ethical dilemmas of our time. Excessive consumerism has resulted in climate degradation and resource depletion, and high-tech terrorism poses an existential threat to humanity. This article argues that these ethical challenges, at its core, stem from the growing socioeconomic inequality created by the market economy in the context of the technological revolution. To address these ethical issues at their root, we argue, there is an urgent need for societal reforms to establish a more equitable distribution system. The success of such reforms depends on transforming moral principles. Therefore, we argue that it is necessary to envision and advocate for new moral ideals that place a higher value on equality, driving improvements in prevailing ethical standards. Social moral progress requires the support of individual moral advancement. Only when a sufficient number of individuals make decisions based on these new moral ideals and act consistently can a new moral system be established and sustained. Consequently, we argue that moral enhancement, as an efficient means of promoting individual moral progress through technological support, may not independently resolve the ethical dilemmas of our era, but it can play a crucial role in this process. The article first reviews the ultimate goals and methods of various types of moral enhancement, briefly assessing their limitations in terms of effectiveness and morality. Next, it argues that the root cause of humanity’s existential crises lies in the extreme economic and social inequality in the technological era, and that without a more equitable distribution system, moral enhancement – even if it overcomes its current flaws – cannot independently resolve this structural issue. The third section advocates for establishing moral ideals that prioritize equality to guide society toward greater fairness. Finally, the article argues that while moral enhancement has unique value in mitigating existential crises, it must be guided by moral ideals, selecting and refining enhancement methods that support a moral system of equal and fair distribution.