MIT OpenCourseWare http ocw mit edu 24 06J STS 006J Bioethics Spring 2009 For information about citing these materials or our Terms of Use visit http ocw mit edu terms Enhancing of Cheating Session L17 Carl Elliott Selections from Better Than Well American Medicine Meets the American Dream New York W W Norton 2003 pp xv xxi 28 34 50 53 119 128 Michael J Sandel Bionic Athletes in The Case Against Perfection Ethics in the Age of Genetic Engineering Cambridge Harvard University Press 2007 pp 25 43 Julie Deardorff Revving Up the Brain Tribune 7 March 2004 online edition Elliott Better than Well Elliott a philosopher and pediatrician reviews the range of enhancement drugs and technologies from Serentil and Miltown in the 1950s and 1960s to Prozac Viagra Botox and cosmetic surgery today Is it possible to make a rigorous distinction between treatment and enhancement For instance is immunization treatment or enhancement In the introduction Elliott muses about the ways we find significance in life through self fulfillment and authenticity What is authenticity and how can you know if you are being true to yourself Does Prozac enhance or undermine authenticity Elliott shows that none of these assessments are static over time How was cosmetic surgery transformed from an indulgence of vanity in the early 20th century into a credible medical concern today How did pharmaceutical companies convert a series of personality traits into diagnosable and treatable mental disorders Does all of this contribute to our psychological well being and as a result help us pursue the valuable goal of self fulfillment Does it do something else instead Keep an eye open for slippery slopes as you read these chapters Sandel Bionic Athletes Sandel a philosopher at Harvard explores our intuitions about a basic question Suppose two baseball players each hit 70 home runs in a season One did it naturally one used steroids What precisely is the difference between their achievements Does achievement need to be earned in a way that is undermined by enhancement Citing a series of examples he shows how difficult it can be to draw clear distinctions Do runners cheat by wearing running shoes By injecting EPO By training in Nike s Altitude House What about Tiger Woods who had vision correct surgery Sandel argues in the end that a distinction can be made by enhancements that allow true athleticism to show through and those that corrupt it Are you convinced by this solution Can you make the distinctions in every case Deardorff Revving Up the Brain Deardorff a journalist with the Chicago Tribune explores the dilemma of Ritalin Intended for use as a treatment for people with ADHD it has increasingly been diverted for use as a cognitive enhancer in people without a diagnosis This certainly happens at MIT though it is hard to know how common it is If this any different from using caffeine From doing crossword puzzles to stay sharp What would be the downsides if any to universal use of Ritalin and other amphetamines to improve performance at work or school In Sandel s terms does Ritalin honor or undermine the integrity of the sport of academics