HughesWatch on Ethical Technology

Hughes Keynotes @ Bioethics: Religious and Spiritual Approaches

2012-08-23T16:19:17+00:00

http://jain.claremontlincoln.org/2012-conference-2/

Cosponsored by Claremont Lincoln University, the International School for Jain Studies, Jain Center of Southern California, and the Federation of Jain Associations in North America (JAINA)

Bioethics: Religious and Spiritual Approaches

August 24-25, 2012

The rapid growth of the medical sciences and of medical technologies has given doctors the ability to diagnose and to cure as never before. At the same time, these breakthroughs raise perplexing ethical questions: when does life begin, and when does it end? When is the quality of life so compromised that doctors should cease further interventions? What is informed consent? What constraints should apply to research on human subjects? And, above all, how can the sanctity of life be preserved? This conference will bring the resources of Jainism (see note below), of the dharma traditions of India, and of the world’s religious and spiritual traditions in general to bear on the most difficult bioethical questions of our day.

The conference presupposes that religious and spiritual traditions can assist doctors and ethicists in thinking through these questions and coming to answers. We welcome paper proposals addressing any of the overlaps between bioethics and the religious traditions, including procreation, alternative medicines, birth and related issues (abortion, in vitro fertilization, population control, etc.), use of stem cells, cloning, the ethics of medical research, end of life issues. The Claremont International Jain Conferences are sponsored by the Jain community, but papers drawing on any of the world’s religious or spiritual traditions are warmly welcomed.

Paper abstracts of 1,000 words should be emailed to Matthew Fisher matthew.fisher@cgu.edu by May 1, 2012. Applications from a wide range of fields are welcome, and graduate students are especially encouraged to submit proposals. Notifications will be made by May 31st.

Download PDF of Conference Poster Here

Conference Details

Plenary sessions take place in Mudd Auditorium, Claremont Lincoln University, 1325 N. College Ave., Claremont, CA 91711. There is an inexpensive registration fee and a discount for students.Early registration at a reduced rate will close on July 15th.

The conference hotel is the Claremont DoubleTree, 555 W. Foothill Blvd. in Claremont; (909) 626-2411. Other accommodations can be found at Hotel Claremont (909) 621-4831. Claremont is 15 minutes from the Ontario International Airport.

Note on Jainism:

Jainism is one of the oldest religions originating from India. At the very heart of Jainism is the ethic of non-violence, Ahimsa , which means ‘Respect for all living beings.’ Ahimsa continues to guide the daily lives of all Jains, who are egetarians, and practice ecology and conservation. Out of 14 million Jains in the world, 125,000 are settled in North America. The other two tenets of Jainsim are non-absolutism, which means that real truth has multiple facets, and non-possessiveness, which means that one should balance one’s needs and desires. JAINA is the umbrella organization of nearly 70 Jain centers and congregations in North America, that has Special Consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.

Organizing Committee:

Matthew Fisher, Coordinator
Dr. Manoj Jain
Dr. Nitin Shah
Manish Mehta, Ph.D.
Rajen Dhami

“‪Renewing Our Commitment to Progress‬”

2012-05-02T10:44:22+00:00

On April 14, 2012 IEET Executive Director gave the closing talk at Connecticut College’s Tedx, which was on the theme of “Rethinking Progress.” Dr. Hughes’ describes the origins of the Enlightenment idea of social and scientific progress, the reasons for skepticism about the idea of progress, and proposes recommitment to a chastened idea of progress as a “great work.” (Slides here)

http://youtu.be/R5n-JAwK7eg

J. Hughes (Enhancing) The Moral Brain: Day Three (J.‘s Notes)

2012-04-01T23:34:56+00:00

After two days of serious neuroscience (Day One, Day Two morning, Day Two afternoon) I confess that my note-taking and summary abilities flagged a bit on the third day.

J. Hughes The Moral Brain: Day Two Afternoon (J.‘s Notes)

2012-03-31T15:25:33+00:00

Day Two of the Moral Brain conference at New York University, co-sponsored by the IEET, is largely devoted to a review of the last ten years of research on the neuroscience of moral sentiments and decision-making, with talks by Jonathan Haidt among others.

J. Hughes The Moral Brain: Day Two Morning (J.‘s Notes)

2012-03-31T12:45:07+00:00

J. Hughes The Moral Brain: Day One (J.‘s Notes)

2012-03-30T21:07:49+00:00

The IEET is a co-organizer of the Moral Brain conference that started today at New York University. IEET Executive Director J. Hughes, IEET Fellow Wendell Wallach and IEET Affiliate Scholar Patrick Hopkins are speaking on Sunday in the moral enhancement part of the conference, and IEET Managing Director Hank Pellissier and IEET Affiliate Scholar Kyle Munkittrick are blogging. The Friday and Saturday sessions are a review of the last ten years of research on the neuroscience of moral sentiments and decision-making, and were organized by the NYU Center for Bioethics and, Duke Kenan Institute for Ethics. The IEET and Yale Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics organized the moral enhancement panels for Saturday and Sunday, adding the praxis to the science.

Can A Pill Make Us More Moral?

2012-03-21T17:41:24+00:00

IEET Executive Director J. Hughes, IEET Fellow Wendell Wallach and bioethicist Fabrice Jotterand join Connecticut public radio talk show host Colin McEnroe to discuss the exploding topic of “moral enhancement.”

http://cptv.vo.llnwd.net/o2/ypmwebcontent/Commodore%20Skahill/Colin%20McEnroe%20Show%2003-19-12.mp3

J. Hughes After Happiness, Cyborg Virtue

2012-03-21T12:27:13+00:00

Although I have used a version of utilitarianism to argue for both transhumanism and social democracy, and for the technoprogressive hybrid of the two, research in hedonic psychology and emerging neurotechnologies make utilitarianism an unattractive moral logic. Instead, I now argue that a version of Sen and Nussbaum’s capabilities approach better supports the technoprogressive endeavor. The capabilities approach argues for both social and technological enablement of human abilities. When the capabilities approach is combined with the idea that virtues are social capabilities, one conclusion is that “moral enhancement,” the use of neurotechnologies to enhance moral sentiment, cognition and behavior, is a social obligation. A schema of virtues to be enhanced, and relevant therapeutic morally enhancing neurochemicals, are discussed.

J. Hughes Buddhist Feminism (Part 4)

2012-03-08T10:58:18+00:00

Western Buddhists, taking Asian Buddhism and attempting to shape a modern Buddhism from it, have different challenges and opportunities. For instance, for better or worse, we do not have strong norms to guide the relations of the sexes as in Buddhist countries. Sadly, we must even beware of the sexual abuse of power by Buddhist teachers.

J. Hughes Buddhist Feminism (Part 3)

2012-03-07T08:10:21+00:00

When the Hindu Tantric tradition began to seep into Buddhism, with its complicated sexual yogas and meditation, it had a radical effect on certain Buddhists’ attitude toward women. The earthiness and sensuality attributed to women, which the sexist side of Buddhism saw as their spiritual weakness, became a spiritual power in Tantric Buddhism. The female yogi, “yogini”, who channels her sexual energy into meditation in the midst of the sex act was seen as one of the most important teachers a Tantric monk could have (an idea reflected in Herman Hesse’s novel SIDDHARTHA). For instance, the Tantric master Marpa, and his wife, shared a “long and highly fruitful relationship” with the consort-guruess Da-me-ma, and the Tantrist Savari was taught by two sisters, Logi and Guni, who, As Tantric consorts, helped him to important breakthroughs on his path.

J. Hughes Buddhist Feminism (Part 2)

2012-03-06T11:22:10+00:00

To modern feminists who have grown up in an era of relative sexual freedom it is difficult to understand that till the present virtually the only way a woman could be free of being a sex object for males was to renounce sexuality altogether. As this song from the Therigatha illustrates, the Buddhist teachings helped empower women to cut through the tangle of humiliating sexuality:

J. Hughes Buddhist Feminism (Part 1)

2012-03-05T13:50:16+00:00

I was raised in the Unitarian Universalist tradition, which combines an openness to the wisdom of all faiths, Enlightenment skepticism about the supernatural, and a commitment to liberal and egalitarian political values. When I became a Buddhist (Tibetan originally) and political radical (Yippie, then socialist) in high school I brought along a very UU orientation. I began trying to puzzle out what the relationship could be between my socialist-feminism and Buddhism’s proposals of overcoming suffering through moral and psychological reform, a concern with connecting the micro and macro that I am still working on in various ways.

Nanotechnology and the End of Intellectual Property

2012-02-27T20:51:40+00:00

Dr. J. chats with David Koepsell about his book Innovation and Nanotechnology: Converging Technologies and the End of Intellectual Property. Koepsell is an author, philosopher, attorney, and educator who teaches at the Delft University of Technology. He is also author Who Owns You? The Corporate Gold Rush to Patent Your Genes.

http://www.archive.org/download/NanotechnologyAndTheEndOfIntellectualProperty/20120227koepsell.mp3

Cinema’s Amazons and Cyborgs

2012-02-19T08:00:23+00:00

We recently learned that a friend of the IEET, Dominique Mainon, lost her battle with cancer several weeks ago. In her memory we repost this interview Dominique, screenwriter, filmmaker and author of, among others, Cinema of Obsession: Erotic Fixation and Love Gone Wrong in the Movies, Femme Fatale: Cinema’s Most Unforgettable Lethal Ladies, and The Modern Amazons: Warrior Women On-Screen. (First broadcast December 2009)

http://www.archive.org/download/AmazonsAndCyborgsInCinema/20091219dmainon.mp3

The Fable of the Dragon-Tyrant

2012-02-18T02:53:37+00:00

Dr. J. reads Dr. Nick Bostrom’s allegory of the struggle to stop aging, published in the Journal of Medical Ethics. (First broadcast in December of 2004)

http://emma2.radio4all.net/pub/archive/04.01.05/jhughes@changesurfer.com/87-2-20041211-1211fable24.mp3

A Bright and Shining Future Awaits

2012-02-05T13:18:59+00:00

We’ve looked into the future, and it’s dark. Increasingly, we’ve lost a progressive view of our future. Instead of seeing promise and lives made better by technology, we’re seeing lives filled with cyborgs and an uninhabitable society. Should we be afraid? Or are we being unnecessarily pessimistic? TVO’s The Agenda invited science fiction authors Robert Sawyer and Madeline Ashby, internet critic Jesse Hirsh, and the IEET’s James Hughes to address these topics.

http://ww3.tvo.org/video/172270/bright-and-shining-future-awaits

IEET Consults for Japanese Neurotech Consortium

2012-02-02T13:51:21+00:00

The Japanese neurotechnology industry is just beginning to organize along the lines of the Neurotechnology Industry Organization in the United States, but with a much stronger focus on the inclusion of neuroethics as part of their mandate. We spoke to the group about the lessons learned about neurotechnology regulation thus far in the United States, the desirability of more harmonization of drug and device clinical trials and regulations within the OECD countries, and the particular emphases of our technoprogressive take on neurotechnology. The slides from our talk are available here.

Metabods

2012-01-28T19:19:32+00:00

Dr. J. chats with Brian Ramirez Kyle, the creator of Metabods.com, a website devoted to gay erotic fantasies about boytaurs, men with multiple limbs or genitals, and radical size and shape transformations. We talk about how radical body mod subcultures might be on the cutting edge of the fight for tolerance of transhuman diversity. (First broadcast in 2004).

http://ieet.org/archive/20040925metabodsr.mp3

IEET Donation Premiums

2012-01-13T01:49:02+00:00

For donations of $25 or more, we’ll send you Utopia Passport

Or an Only Outlaws Will Evolve bumpersticker:

For donations of $100 or more, we’ll send you a signed copy of Citizen Cyborg

Let us know what kinds of premiums you think would be catchy!

The IEET is a 501(c)3 non-profit, tax-exempt organization registered in the State of Connecticut in the United States. The major source of funding for the IEET is from generous contributions from our network of supporters. Please give as you are able, and help support our work for a brighter future.

Monsanto and Genetically Modified Crops pt2

2011-12-24T15:59:04+00:00

Dr. J. chats with Kurt Heidinger, executive director of the Biocitizen School of Field Environmental Philosophy in Westhampton MA. They discuss the ecological and food security consequences of genetically modified crops, and the corporate accountability of Monsanto in light of a recent EPA investigation of the spread of biopesticide resistant corn-borers. (Part 2 of 2)

http://www.archive.org/download/MonsantoAndGeneticallyModifiedCrops/20111219heidinger-b.mp3

Monsanto and Genetically Modified Crops pt1

2011-12-24T15:51:28+00:00

http://www.archive.org/download/MonsantoAndGeneticallyModifiedCrops/20111219heidinger-a.mp3

The Bodhisattva’s Brain pt2

2011-12-20T21:56:03+00:00

Dr. J. chats with Owen Flanagan, professor of philosophy at Duke University and author of The Bodhisattva’s Brain: Buddhism Naturalized. They discuss the relationship of the Aristotleian and Buddhist ideas of happiness and virtue, and the relevance of neuropsychological research on what it means to have a flourishing life. (Part 2 of 2)

http://www.archive.org/download/TheBodhisattvasBrain/20111220flanagan-b.mp3

The Bodhisattva’s Brain pt1

2011-12-20T21:49:15+00:00

http://www.archive.org/download/TheBodhisattvasBrain/20111220flanagan-a.mp3

Big Changes Afoot for the IEET in 2012

2011-12-17T02:46:51+00:00

First, about Nick Bostrom. It is a testament to our affection and admiration for Nick that we implored him to stay as Chair this long. For years he has had more than enough on his hands running the hugely successful Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford University, and working on its conferences, papers and collected volumes on Human Enhancement and Global Catastrophic Risks. We thank him for his guidance and support, and look forward to continuing to promote his work as one of our Senior Fellows, especially his much anticipated forthcoming work on superintelligence and its associated catastrophic risks.

Second, Mike Treder. Mike was one of the first people who recruited me (J. Hughes) to transhumanism back in 2001, and he was in from the beginning in our work on the World Transhumanist Association Board of Directors, and then the founding of the IEET. After several years of Mike directing the Center for Responsible Nanotechnology, and after I was facing the diminution of my time available for running the IEET due to my promotion at Trinity College, I was able to persuade Mike to come on full-time as IEET Managing Director. His passionate engagement has shaped us since then, from his fierce anger at the injustices and idiocies prevalent in the world, to his fervent optimism and hope for a better, more rational, future. He recruited dozens of new contributors, Fellows and Affiliate Scholars, and edited all their disparate contributions patiently and compassionately. He will continue to be an active part of our community, and we look forward to more of his own writing now that he has less of other people’s to edit.

Third, Hank Pellissier. Since Mike recruited him a year ago Hank has had an unerring sense for identifying issues and articulating viewpoints that ring like a bell in the blogosphere. He has generated the most hits on articles, and pages and pages of comments from our community. Now Hank will be stepping up to help us grow to our next stage, by fundraising, building a more international network of collaborators, and organizing meetings. In the last couple days he has me feeling quite exhausted by his boundless energy and creativity. I think we’re all in for an exciting ride. But I’ll let him speak for himself:

I am thrilled and honored to be assisting the IEET in the future as Managing Director.

Aside from fundraising and managing the website, and publishing fresh articles by our excellent staff of mind-bending scholars, I will be focusing on organizing conferences, such as “The Moral Brain” conference March 30-April 1 at New York University; then a “Cyborg Buddha” event, an event on technology and secularization, and an event on the enhancement of animal intelligence. I hope to meet many of you as we travel around the United States and the world building the technoprogressive community.

Each event’s success depends on the funding support that IEET obtains. Please help? Donate to IEET here.

Thanks for your support, and thanks again to Nick and Mike.

A Short History of the Future

2011-12-17T02:02:54+00:00

This is an interview that I conducted with historian and futurist Warren Wagar in 1998. Wagar was a professor at SUNY Binghamton, an HG Wells scholar, and the author of the technoprogressive classic A Short History of the Future. A special issue of the Journal of World-Systems Research was devoted to commentaries on Warren Wagar’s theory of the forces that are leading to world government. Professor Wagar passed away in 2004.

http://ieet.org/archive/20111216wagar.mp3

Hughes and Wallach essays in Patrick’s new collection on Robot Ethics

2011-12-16T02:24:06+00:00

The collection is published by MIT Press which has this cover blurb:

Robots today serve in many roles, from entertainer to educator to executioner. As robotics technology advances, ethical concerns become more pressing: Should robots be programmed to follow a code of ethics, if this is even possible? Are there risks in forming emotional bonds with robots? How might society—and ethics—change with robotics? This volume is the first book to bring together prominent scholars and experts from both science and the humanities to explore these and other questions in this emerging field. Starting with an overview of the issues and relevant ethical theories, the topics flow naturally from the possibility of programming robot ethics to the ethical use of military robots in war to legal and policy questions, including liability and privacy concerns. The contributors then turn to human-robot emotional relationships, examining the ethical implications of robots as sexual partners, caregivers, and servants. Finally, they explore the possibility that robots, whether biological-computational hybrids or pure machines, should be given rights or moral consideration. Ethics is often slow to catch up with technological developments. This authoritative and accessible volume fills a gap in both scholarly literature and policy discussion, offering an impressive collection of expert analyses of the most crucial topics in this increasingly important field.

Patrick and his co-editors have an introductory essay to the volume “Robot ethics: Mapping the issues for a mechanized world” online here.

Beyond the Soul

2011-12-13T17:22:44+00:00

On Sunday December 11, 2011 the Turing Church Online Workshop 2.0, explored transhumanist spirituality and “Religion 2.0″, the convergence of science and religion, highly imaginative future science and technologies for resurrection, emerging science and technologies for immortality, social and memetic engineering. The event was organized by Giulio Prisco, a member of the IEET Board of Directors. About thirty people dropped in to the virtual space to listen to the talks and participate in the discussion. IEET Fellow Ben Goertzel’s pre-recorded talk is available here. IEET Trustee Martine Rothblatt’s talk about Terasem’s ideas is available here.

IEET Executive Director James Hughes’ talk reprised the ideas presented in his recent essay “Contradictions of the Enlightenment: Liberal Individualism versus the Erosion of Personal Identity,” arguing for the necessity of embracing a Buddhist acknowledgment that the self is a narrative fiction without any real continuous, discrete referent. The slides used for the talk can be downloaded here. The talk was given in the first 23 minutes of this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEHHWI8MNAw

An End of Year Appeal for Support

2011-12-11T19:22:20+00:00

Last year we asked

Does the future seem exciting to you? With new technologies, new hopes for human potential, and potentially even new kinds of humans?

Or does the future seem challenging? With widening gaps between rich and poor? Species loss and climate change? Authoritarian governments who might prevent the use of enhancement and other technologies?

What a difference a year makes! The Arab Spring and then the Occupy movement have exploded into a thousand proliferating points of optimistic resistance around the world, from Oakland to Moscow. An attractive sustainable future seems much more plausible now than it did a year ago.

Still, in the midst of persistent unemployment the policy debate refuses to confront the structural unemployment caused by, and sure to be deepened by, automation and AI. Policy makers are slashing biomedical research support precisely at the time when a couple of billions of dollars spent on anti-aging therapy research could save the world trillions of dollars in nursing and medical costs.

The IEET’s combination of technoprogressive values, near-futurism and practical policy focus is needed now more than ever.

Here at the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, we’re taking a close look at what the biggest developments might be over the next few decades and how they will affect humans and our societies. Our distinctive role is that we take the far-reaching impacts of transformative technologies seriously, unlike many ethics and public policy organizations, and then we ask the tough political questions that many futurist and tech-enthusiast groups don’t.

With that unique niche, and with the dozens of diverse scholars and activists we’ve gathered in the global IEET community, no other organization is as well-positioned as we are to make a difference by promoting ethical policies that encourage the rapid, safe, and effective use of emerging technologies for the benefit of everyone. It is important work, vital work, and we are very happy to do it.

In the coming year we will be changing and growing, in ways that we will announce soon.

In March we will be co-sponsoring the first ever conference on “moral enhancement,” the use of neurotechnologies to improve moral sentiment, cognition and behavior. The ramifications of the moral enhancement debate extend from children’s rights, criminal rehabilitation and the freedom of conscience, to the most profound challenges to our political and psychological way of life. Through the Cyborg Buddha project we intend to defend the liberatory uses of neurotechnology, while challenging the incipient threats to cognitive liberty.

But our work can’t be done without your support.

Luckily, a few large contributors have helped us with major gifts. But to maintain our tax-exempt status with the US government (we’re registered as a 501(c)3 in the state of Connecticut), we are required to get at least one-third of our funding from individuals who make small contributions (less than a $1000). People like you, giving $500 or $50 a year.

Without your support, we will lose our legal status as a nonprofit organization. It’s that simple. We need whatever you can give. It doesn’t have to be a lot, and we understand that for many of you it can’t be a $1000. But please consider whatever level of tax-deductible donation you can afford.

Click here to make a secure online contribution via Network for Good or here via PayPal.*

You’ve already set yourself apart as someone who is aware of and interested in the big changes that are coming in the future. You’ve shown that you understand the need to think seriously about the huge challenges we face and the powerful new technologies that could make the years ahead much brighter for all of us, or possibly much darker if bad choices are made.

Please join those who are committed to a future of hope and reason, of science and optimism, of flourishing and sustainable societies. We want you as part of our giving community.

Thanks in advance for your support. It’s not only welcome. It’s essential.

And happy holidays! Occupy the Eggnog!

* Those who prefer not to donate online can send a check to “IEET” to the office of IEET Executive Director James Hughes at this address:

Williams 119
300 Summit St.
Hartford, CT 06106

Hughes and Blackford featured in Free Inquiry

2011-12-11T03:23:55+00:00

Russell’s article “Enhancement Anxiety” can be read online.

Do Christians Need Bodies?

2011-12-09T20:51:55+00:00

Dr. J. chats with theologian Brent Waters, author of This Mortal Flesh: Incarnation and Bioethics and From Human to Posthuman: Christian Theology and Technology in a Postmodern World. Professor Waters teaches Christian Social Ethics at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, Evanston, Illinois. They discuss the importance of the body for Christianity, the ethics of reproductive choice and life extension, and whether human beings are supposed to have a creative role in nature.

http://www.archive.org/download/DoChristiansNeedBodies/20111208waters.mp3