What is Bioconservatism? Arendt, Habermas, and Fukuyama

Abstract

<p>In light of the new developments in biotechnologies in recent years and their potentialities for human enhancement, the traditional division between conservative and progressive thinking has acquired new nuances. This article offers a historical examination of <em>bioconservatism</em>—the specific kind of conservatism that has developed in response to these technologies, the aim of which is to resist their potential future adverse effects. I differentiate between two types of bioconservatism: the one based on a defense of the anthropological openness of human beings and the conditions that make ethical existence possible (Hannah Arendt and Jürgen Habermas), and the other based on a more traditionally conservative defense of human nature (Francis Fukuyama). By proposing a more concise definition of bioconservatism, this article deepens our understanding of the new conservative responses to the accelerating rate of biotechnological developments and the rise of the intellectual movements of transhumanism and posthumanism.<br></p>