2 It has recently been suggested by a number of recent ‘bioliberal’ and ‘biomoderate’ critics of bioconservatism that, by their own lights, bioconservatives who are also political conservatives should be in favour of at least some enhancements. Although it is quite possible to be a bioconservative without being a political conservative, many bioconservatives, such as Leon Kass ( 2003) and Francis Fukuyama ( 2002), are more generally politically conservative. 1 ‘Bioconservative’ is a term that is often used to describe those who wish to conserve humanity as it is, and so oppose human enhancement. They raise many distinct arguments against human bioenhancement. The prospect of humans using new biotechnologies to enhance themselves has been the subject of considerable controversy, and has aroused the opposition of ‘bioconservatives’ who are adamant that we ought not to use biotechnologies to enhance ourselves. We also consider how traditional approaches to moral education can be supplemented by bioenhancement. We consider these ways of supplementing the backfiring objection and argue that each of them, when properly understood, is of limited value to the bioconservative. Bioconservatives sometimes supplement the backfiring objection by arguing that change will be irreversible, that the new (or the unconventional) is especially liable to backfire and that humans possess severe and permanent limitations which cannot be overcome. We will argue that the objection is not nearly as significant as bioconservatives suppose it to be. This is the objection that the use of such technologies is liable to go wrong and lead to outcomes that are inferior to the outcomes intended.

In this article, we consider one form of argument that conservative opponents of biotechnological means of enhancement (bioconservatives) deploy in opposition to the use of enhancement technologies-the backfiring objection.

Nevertheless, the question of whether we should undertake such enhancement is worthy of discussion as it may become possible in the future. The prospect of enhancing ourselves through the use of new biotechnologies is for the most part, hypothetical.

Kass preventing brave new world summary