ABSTRACT

This chapter analyses different proposals for defining human enhancement technologies presented by academics from various scientific fields (legal scholars, ethicists, philosophers, engineers, medical scholars, amongst others) and international institutions (such as the European Parliament). Based on their analyses, the chapter provides a stipulative definition that will be used for this research. Moreover, the proposed definition‘s feasibility for the application by the legislator is also examined towards the end of this chapter. While analysing definitions of human enhancement, two main challenges associated with them are distilled and further elaborated. These include reference to the term‘normality ‘ and its implications for being used in a definition, as well as the relevance of the distinction between therapy and enhancement for the ongoing and future policymaking and lawmaking debate on human enhancement.