Authenticity of Emotions and the Bioethical Debate over Human Enhancement: Can “Happy Pills” Give Real Happiness?

Abstract

The goal of this article is to summarize the philosophical debate about the authenticity of the emotions induced by psychopharmacological drugs. The text is part of a wider bioethical discussion about human enhancement, in particular about mood enhancement. In the first part of the article, two opposing bioethical positions are presented: the position of bioconservatives who are against the idea of human enhancement and the position of enthusiastic transhumanists. In the second part of the article, it is demonstrated how a misunderstanding between the two positions may be caused by different way of defining the notion of authenticity (as essential authenticity or narrative authenticity). In the third part, the problem of authentic emotions is illustrated by the hypothetical case of pleasure caused by “happy pills.”