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158 • Cyborg Mind
substantial overlap and ambiguity between the two. This means that every
change to the human body must be examined on the basis of ethical theories
and principles in order to consider whether it may be seen as acceptable,
while considering its potential impact, including its consequences on society.
In this regard, in 2005, the European Group on Ethics in Science and
New Technologies to the European Commission indicated that: ‘The ethical
notion of the inviolability of the human body should not be understood as
a barrier against the advancement of science and technology but as a barrier
against its possible misuse.’239
As such, it may also be important to consider whether a relevant dif-
ference exists when a device is present inside or outside the human body.
Indeed, from a psychological and social perspective, human beings consider
the human body as the defining boundary and entity of the human person
on which many of society’s customs and laws are based. 240 For example, if a
mechanical heart is placed inside a person, this could then be seen as an inte-
gral part of his or her human body. No one would then be entitled to take it
out against the will of the individual. On the other hand, if the same heart
was placed outside the body of a person, a different perspective may arise
from an ethical, anthropological and legal standpoint.241
This becomes even more complex when neuronal interfaces are consid-
ered. As the American theological ethicist Ronald Cole-Turner indicates:
‘We are embodied creatures, and any use of technology that affects any part
affects the whole being, including the very core of identity and personality,
our mental powers of memory, understanding, and will.’242
Moreover, if a direct neuronal interface was used to fuse a human being’s
brain to a computer, enabling him or her to think online, then the element
of consciousness within the computer would become an extension of the
human being’s own consciousness, which had been enhanced through the
interface to the computer. In other words, the person’s own consciousness
would be controlling the extended consciousness within the computer so
that the person remains human and the computer remains a machine.
However, if the consciousness in the computer begins to exist without any
input from an external human brain through an interface, the computer con-
sciousness could then be considered as a computer person who would be com-
pletely different and independent from human life as such. This would mean
that the personal psychological identity of an individual, his or her self, could
slowly and indistinguishably evolve to become another being through his or
her interface with a computer and cyberspace. A clear demarcation line would
no longer exist between the computer and the human person. In this respect,
Cole-Turner argues that ‘as we turn technology on ourselves so that we change
our own bodies and brains, the “I” is swept up in the change and modified
through its own action. When these technologies of human enhancement get
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Cyborg Mind
What Brain–Computer and Mind–Cyberspace Interfaces Mean for Cyberneuroethics
- Title
- Cyborg Mind
- Subtitle
- What Brain–Computer and Mind–Cyberspace Interfaces Mean for Cyberneuroethics
- Author
- Calum MacKellar
- Publisher
- Berghahn Books
- Date
- 2019
- Language
- English
- License
- CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- ISBN
- 978-1-78920-015-7
- Size
- 15.2 x 22.9 cm
- Pages
- 264
- Keywords
- Singularity, Transhumanism, Body modification, Bioethics
- Category
- Technik
Table of contents
- Chapter 1. Why Use the Term ‘Cyberneuroethics’? 9
- Chapter 2. Popular Understanding of Neuronal Interfaces 25
- Chapter 3. Presentation of the Brain–Mind Interface 31
- Chapter 4. Neuronal Interface Systems 43
- Developments in Information Technology 44
- Developments in Understanding the Brain 45
- Developments in Neuronal Interfaces 46
- Procedures Involved in Neuronal Interfaces 47
- Output Neuronal Interface Systems: Reading the Brain and Mind 49
- Input Neuronal Interface Systems: Changing the Brain and Mind 57
- Feedback Systems of the Brain and Mind 67
- Ethical Issues Relating to the Technology of Neuronal Interfaces 84
- Chapter 5. Cyberneuroethics 99
- Chapter 6. Neuronal Interfaces and Policy 217
- New Cybercrimes 218
- Policy Concerns 223
- Conclusion 229
- Human Autonomy 232
- Resistance to Such a Development 234
- Risks of Neuronal Interfaces 234
- Appendix. Scottish Council on Human Bioethics Recommendations on
- Cyberneuroethics 239
- Glossary 244
- Index 251