Visions of Catastrophe: Human Enhancement in Contemporary, Dystopian Speculative Fiction
Abstract
Genetic engineering and human-machine interface technologies hold great promise for alleviating a wide variety of diseases and medical conditions. They also have the potential to enhance human physical and cognitive capabilities beyond natural limits. Historically, we have often struggled to anticipate the negative human consequences of new technologies, and to avoid or mitigate their effects. Because such enhancement applications raise serious moral concerns and could plausibly lead to catastrophic consequences, it is especially important to carefully consider how we approach their research, development, and distribution. Yet a variety of powerful influences push us to go faster, impatient with restraints. Speculative fiction offers a unique, counterbalancing perspective on what the future might hold. Grounded in contemporary events and scientific progress, works from this genre transport us to recognizable, near-future worlds. While no discipline can reliably predict the future with any great fidelity, these novels envision a range of plausible human consequences which can help us recognize real dangers and act to avoid them.
Disciplines
Economics | English Language and Literature | Philosophy
Subject Area
Economics
Recommended Citation
McClurg, Darren F., "Visions of Catastrophe: Human Enhancement in Contemporary, Dystopian Speculative Fiction" (2025). Doctoral Dissertations. 223.
https://digitalcommons.salve.edu/doctoral_dissertations/223
Department
Humanities (HUM)
First Advisor
Masakowski, Yvonne
Second Advisor
Combies, Patricia
Third Advisor
O'Callaghan, Sean
Date of Award
2025
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D.