Why We Need a ‘Stuck with Virtue’ Science

The essays in this symposium were first delivered at the second conference in the series “Stuck with Virtue.” Sponsored by a generous grant from the University of Chicago’s New Science of Virtues project, this conference examined the various Cartesian, Lockean, and Darwinian premises that help shape and inform the ethics and ethos of modern technological democracy. Held in April 2011 at Berry College in Rome, Georgia, the conference featured four main speakers: Ronald Bailey, Charles T. Rubin, Patrick J. Deneen, and Robert P. Kraynak, with responses to Mr. Bailey by Benjamin Storey and to Professor Rubin by Adam Keiper.

From the Symposium:

Science, Virtue, and the Future of Humanity

• Why We Need a ‘Stuck with Virtue’ Science
• The Case for Enhancing People
• Liberation Biology, Lost in the Cosmos
• Machine Morality and Human Responsibility
• The Problem with ‘Friendly’ Artificial Intelligence
• The Science of Politics and the Conquest of Nature
• Justice without Foundations

Ronald Bailey looks at the question of science and virtue from the perspective of contemporary libertarianism. Bailey fully appreciates how radically pro-choice today’s techno-libertarians are. From this perspective, nature is cruelly indifferent to the existence of individual human beings; given this indifference, individuals should be free to maximize their choices and minimize their dependence on anyone — or anything — other than themselves. That means that modern technology and biotechnology should be unleashed to perfect human health, radically extend life, and greatly enhance our powers in the meantime, whether through genetic engineering, pharmacologic interventions, mind-machine interfaces, or other technologies. Bailey does recognize that some individuals might not want to partake in these enhancements or to live forever, and that others might fear the social consequences of a world characterized by indefinite longevity. A man of his word, he believes these people should be free to choose death. But he and everyone else should likewise be free to choose to live as long as possible and do with their bodies what they please. (Benjamin Storey responds to Bailey by challenging his conceptions of liberty and progress and by pointing him toward a richer anthropology that acknowledges both our animal origins and our nature as moral and intelligent beings.)