In a speech last summer at the historic Chautauqua Institution, bioethics professor Arthur Caplan argued for increased medical research for the pursuit of anti-aging and surgical enhancement.
With the healthcare system being less than perfect in the United States, it is difficult to pursue these goals. Caplan acknowledges this as the first priority, but also has to defend the pursuit against another problem; the overly “puritanical” view of many people.
In the first few minutes of his speech, Caplan recalls a story about a woman who had received harsh criticism for getting a facelift. A younger female counterpart said of her, “that’s terrible, you should simply accept the changes [of aging] as they come.” The story served as a model example of that misguided puritanical view of many people today.
In his deep philosophical argument, Caplan rejects the puritanical view and presents many reasons why we should use medical technology to pursue new discoveries in the science of stem cells. He suggest that if we push for adequate funding and defeat the misguided morality of the “new puritans,” it may be possible for us to achieve methods of whole-body anti aging, through the regenerative capacities of stem cells.
The entire lecture can be found here on Minnesota Public Radio.
