Athletic enhancement, human nature and ethics - J. Tolleneer

The book provides an in-depth discussion on the human nature concept from different perspectives and from different disciplines, analyzing its use in the doping debate and researching its normative overtones. The relation between natural talent and enhanced abilitiesis scrutinized within a proper conceptual and theoretical framework: is doping to be seen as a factor of the athlete's dehumanization or is it a tool to fulfill his/her aspirations to go faster, higher and stronger? Which characteristics make sports such a peculiar subject of ethical discussion and what are the, both intrinsic and extrinsic, moral dangers and opportunities involved in athletic enhancement? This volume combines fundamental philosophical anthropological reflection with applied ethics and socio-cultural and empirical approaches. Furthermore guidelines will be presented to decision- and policy-makers on local, national and international levels. Zooming in on the intrinsic issue of what is valuable about our homo sapiens biological condition, this volume devotes only scant attention to the specific issue of natural talent and why such talent is appreciated so differently than biotechnological origins of ability. In addition, specific aspects of sports such as its competitive nature and its direct display of bodily prowess provide good reason to single out the issue of natural athletic talent for sustained ethical scrutiny.

From the book reviews:

"The book collects contributions of different authors with diverging points of views … providing a rich analysis of one of the most controversial aspects of sports. … For those who work in the field of clinical bioethics (i.e., clinical ethics consultants or ethics committee members) and for those who are interested in implementing the knowledge of the relation between sport and doping, this book may serve as a very useful tool for in-depth analysis of these ethical issues." (Luciana Caenazzo, Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics, Vol. 35, 2014)

"This edited book presents a thorough discussion of enhanced athletics in relation to different conceptions of human nature. … The diversity of perspectives and approaches this book presents are meant to reach a wide range of readers. From philosophers to anthropologists to policy-makers, different sections will challenge and engage readers from a broad spectrum of scholarly backgrounds. … This book is an excellent comprehensive look at the debate, and it is particularly successful in presenting a diversity of frameworks." (Heidi R. Pieroni, Doody's Book Reviews, July, 2013)