ABSTRACT
Human enhancement is a topic with a long prehistory, even if it is defined as an intervention in the human body, thereby distinguishing it from other, non-bodily applications of technology that can be used to enhance human performance. Even explicit discourse on enhancement, including ethico-political discourse, is by no means only a 21st-century phenomenon, however, as it dates back at least to the early 1980s. It is noteworthy that many questions discussed in human enhancement discourse today were already the subject of speculation and debate in its prehistory and early history, and that the approaches to this controversial topic have been similar over time.
