Cognitive enhancement and the neuroethics of memory drugs

Abstract

In response to recent developments in neuropharmacology, some are asking what the potential impact of memory drugs might be in relation to common values and social justice; others are concerned with legal and military implications, including possible requirements or prohibitions of enhancement pharmaceuticals in the workplace. In considering these drugs, society must weigh what the collective benefits or costs might be in relation to individual rights and choices. This chapter addresses the neuroethics of memory drugs by taking stock of differing rhetorics and values in personal and collective memory. Following an overview of current "memory and forgetting" drug development, this chapter asserts the idea that cultural shifts in how we relate to history in general, and to our own stories or memories in particular, can open up approaches to scientific knowledge that carry ethical social advantages. As changes in memory management, both technological and pharmacological, come into play, freedom of thought remains a democratic good and an essential human value that can guide coming debates over the uses and applications of cognitive technologies. © 2006 Springer.