The social construction of human enhancement

Science is a site of inherent tensions between endangering and improving the quality of our lives. Products, procedures, and technologies that enhance the cognitive and physical performances of human beings exist at the centre of this tension because they raise questions about equality, fairness, safety, free choice, and the meaning of human performance. This tension is especially evident in high performance, or prolympic, sports in which science is used to increase the effectiveness of training and the achievement of desired outcomes in competition. The goal of this chapter is to provide a brief description of the social and cultural contexts in which human enhancement is assessed, highlight the United States as a bellwether of human enhancement acceptance, discuss the role of human enhancement in sports, and explain the ways that human enhancement has become integrated into prolympic sports today. Given the current organization of prolympic sports, it is unlikely that performance enhancing substances can be controlled to the point that they do not influence competitive outcomes. The manner that this issue is handled in sports will influence how it is handled in society at large.