Welcome to the Nexus of Ethics, Psychology, Morality, Philosophy and Health Care

Welcome to the nexus of ethics, psychology, morality, technology, health care, and philosophy

Sunday, May 3, 2015

What if a bionic leg is so good that someone chooses to amputate?

By Jemima Kiss
The Guardian
Originally published April 9, 2015

Here is an excerpt:

Bionics will become so appealing that some people may choose to amputate just so that they can augment their bodies; our own legs might begin to feel heavy and stupid, he thinks. Given cosmetic surgery now, how would we feel about going under the knife for an arguably more justifiable benefit? This raises some intensely challenging issues about whether we will see a far more profound human digital divide, already hinted at in sci-fi countless times: the augmented, and the unaugmented.

In this view of the body as a biological machine, the parts that don’t work can be replaced, improved, remodelled.

The entire article is here.