"Meditations on Drugs": A Buddhist Ethical Approach to Pharmaceutical Cognitive Enhancement

Purpose: The purpose of this project is to explore the moral permissibility of pharmaceutical cognitive enhancement through the lens of Buddhist ethics and to examine what relevance Buddhist ethics can bring to the western discourse of pharmaceutical cognitive enhancement. This will also help to bring about a more global perspective towards this particular bioethical issue.Methodology: This project has a two-pronged methodology: a literature review of the western bioethical discourse on pharmaceutical cognitive enhancement and a qualitative analysis of the participants, Buddhist monks and nuns, who were interviewed.Results: The moral framework that emerged from the interviews coincided with the framework that was derived from the literature review. Buddhists also seemed to prefer alternative forms of cognitive enhancement such as mediation and education to the biomedical or pharmaceutical. However, they saw little inherently wrong with the pharmaceuticals themselves so long as they are used in moderation and all other contexts are considered.Conclusions: What this project brings to the discussion of the bioethical issue of pharmaceutical cognitive enhancement is a consideration for another alternative form of enhancement, primarily meditation. It also brings in a new moral framework that is not found within the West. By considering ethical issues from a Buddhist lens this develops a more global perspective on the issue, which is certainly needed, as it is possible that pharmaceutical cognitive enhancement will likely not remain as a bioethical issue that is only found in the West.

Boosting brainpower? From the medicalisation of cognition to the pharmaceuticalisation of routine mental life

Sociological engagement with debates around the promise, problems and prospects of pharmaceutical cognitive enhancment is still at an early stage. In this paper we attempt to explore how the prospect of cognitive enhancement can be understood using existing sociological concepts of medicalisation, biomedicalisation and pharmaceuticalisation. Drawing on two case studies, that of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and the use of modafinil to enhance alertness, we discuss the idea of enhancement medicine and the use of cognitive enhancers outside of medical authority. We suggest that whilst all three of the above concepts shed important light on these developments, overlapping and converging as they do in various ways, pharmaceuticalisation provides a more precise sociological term of reference. We end with some suggestions for a research agenda for tracing and tracking trends in pharmaceutical cognitive enhancement over time.