Human Dignity and Bioethics

Dignity and Enhancement | 195
centuries from today, it is likely that the society we would see would
appear to us as being in important respects Un-Dignified compared
to our own. This would seem to be the default expectation even apart
from any technological enhancements which might by then have entered
into common use. And therein lies one of those fine ironies
of history. One generation conceives a beautiful design and lays the
ground stones of a better tomorrow. Then they die, and the next
generation decides to erect a different structure on the foundation
that was build, a structure that is more beautiful in their eyes but that
would have been hideous to their predecessors. The original architects
are no longer there to complain, but if the dead could see they
would turn in their graves. O tempora, o mores, cry the old, and the
bones of our ancestors rattle their emphatic assent!
It is possible to take a more optimistic view of the possibilities of
secular change in the societal and cultural realms. One might believe
that the history of humankind shows signs of moral progress, a slow
and fluctuating trend toward more justice and less cruelty. Even if
one does not detect such a trend in history, one might still hope
that the future will bring more unambiguous amelioration of the human
condition. But there are many variables other than Dignity as a
Quality that influence our evaluation of possible cultures and societies
(such as the extent to which Human Dignity is respected, to name
but one). It may be that we have to content ourselves with hoping for
improvements in these other variables, recognizing that Dignity as a
Quality, when ascribed to forms of social organization rather than individuals,
is too indeterminate a concept—and possibly too culturerelative—for
even an optimist to feel confident that future society or
future culture will appear highly dignified by current lights.
I will therefore not discuss by what means one might attempt to
increase the Dignity as a Quality of present or future society, except
to note that enhancement could possibly play a role. For example, if
homogenization is antithetical to a society having Dignity as a Quality,
then enhancements that strengthen the ability of individuals to
resist group pressure and that encourage creativity and originality,
and maybe even a degree of eccentricity, could help not only individuals
to attain more Dignity as a Quality but also society, thanks to
the cultural diversification that such individuals would create.