Controversy about the concept of authenticity
Reflections on the possible effects of enhancement procedures on the authenticity of their users were stimulated significantly by Peter Kramer's book "Listening to Prozac" published in 1993. In his book, the American psychiatrist describes his experience of prescribing antidepressants to people who had come to him for treatment although they were not depressed in the clinical sense. He was encouraged to carry out these trials by the apparently favorable side effect profile of the psychotropic drug "Prozac", which had been approved in 1987 as the first antidepressant of the new class of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in the USA. Kramer's clients reported various changes under the influence of Prozac. Many of them voiced the impression that they felt really like themselves for the first time thanks to the drug. These experiences are used as evidence that pharmacological neuroenhancement may in some circumstances increase the users' sense of authenticity.
Kramer, P. (1993): Listening to Prozac. A Psychiatrist Explores Antidepressant Drugs and the Remaking of the Self. New York: Penguin.
Deutsche Übersetzung:
Kramer, P. (1995): Glück auf Rezept. Der unheimliche Erfolg der Glückspille Fluctin. Köln: Kösel.
In contrast, the American bioethicist Carl Elliott in particular highlighted in his publications the possibility that neuroenhancement might undermine the authenticity of its users:
Elliott, C. (2004): Better than Well: American Medicine Meets the American Dream. New York: Norton.
Erik Parens analyzes the different meanings of the concept of authenticity behind the opposing interpretations of critics and proponents of enhancement in the essay:
Parens, E. (2005): Authenticity and Ambivalence. Toward Understanding the Enhancement Debate. In: Hastings Center Report 35 (3), 34–41. doi: 10.2307/3528804.
Further reflections on the relationship between individual authenticity and neuroenhancement can be found in the following essays:
Trachsel, M. / Porz, R. / Laederach, K. (2012): Mood-Enhancement mittels Antidepressiva. Ethische Fragen zu Authentizität und Gerechtigkeit. Bioetica Forum 5 (4), 156–161. doi:10.5167/uzh-70761. Online Version (German)
Honnefelder, L. (2009): Die ethische Dimension moderner Hirnforschung. In: Deutscher Ethikrat (Hg.): Der steuerbare Mensch? Über Einblicke und Eingriffe in unser Gehirn. Vorträge der Jahrestagung des Deutschen Ethikrates 2009. 83–95. Online Version (German)
Van den Daele, W. (2009): Thesen zur ethischen Debatte um das Neuro-Enhancement. In: Deutscher Ethikrat (Hg.): Der steuerbare Mensch? Über Einblicke und Eingriffe in unser Gehirn. Vorträge der Jahrestagung des Deutschen Ethikrates 2009. 107–114. Online Version(German)