Shaping Children: Ethical and Social Questions that Arise when Enhancing the Young (Advances in Neuroethics)

The volume offers a unique collection of articles on pediatric neuroenhancement from an international and multidisciplinary perspective. In recent years, the topic of “neuroenhancement” has become increasingly relevant in academia and practice, as well as among the public. While autonomous adults are free to choose neuroenhancement, in children it presents its own ethical, social, legal, and developmental issues. A plethora of potential (neurotechnological) enhancement agents are on the market. While the manifold issues surrounding the topic have been extensively discussed, there is little work on the specific questions that arise in children and adolescents. This book addresses this gap in the literature: Next to conceptual and normative work on autonomy and self-control, the collection explores the implications for parenting and schooling, and provides input for a discussion of public attitudes. It is a valuable resource for the different academic communities confronted with questions of how to evaluate and approach enhancement in children and is of interest to neuroethicists, scholars in applied ethics and neurology, psychiatrists and psychologists as well as scientists developing enhancement interventions for children. Front Matter ....Pages i-x Introduction (Saskia K. Nagel)....Pages 1-8 Front Matter ....Pages 9-9 Shaping Children: The Pursuit of Normalcy in Pediatric Cognitive Neuro-enhancement (Jenny Krutzinna)....Pages 11-24 Self-Control Enhancement in Children: Ethical and Conceptual Aspects (Dorothee Horstkötter)....Pages 25-41 Neuro-enhancement at the Margins of Autonomy: In the Best Interest of Children and Elderly? (David M. Lyreskog)....Pages 43-55 Paediatric Neuro-enhancement and Natural Goodness (Martin Hähnel)....Pages 57-71 Front Matter ....Pages 73-73 Experimental Neuroethics (Peter B. Reiner)....Pages 75-83 Public Perceptions of Prescription Drug Use for Cognitive Enhancement in Healthy Children and Adolescents (Sebastian Sattler, Jonathan Wörn)....Pages 85-103 Enhancing Young Brains in Contemporary Family Life: Exploring the Context and Scope of Pediatric Neuro-enhancement (Cliodhna O’Connor)....Pages 105-121 Front Matter ....Pages 123-123 Education and the Ethics of Neuro-enhancement (Johannes Drerup)....Pages 125-142 Pediatric Pharmacological Cognitive Enhancement in a Self-Medicating Society (Larissa J. Maier)....Pages 143-154 Self-Melioration, Autonomy and Music-Enriched Self-Control: On Enhancing Children’s Attention (Alexander Matthias Gerner)....Pages 155-182 Explaining Gender Differences in the Diagnosis of ADHD in Children (Ioana Petre)....Pages 183-197 Pediatric Neuro-enhancement, Best Interest, and Autonomy: A Case of Normative Reversal (Veljko Dubljević, Eric Racine)....Pages 199-212