Biotechnologies inside the self

new challenges in clinical ontology

Luis E. Echarte

pp. 123-140

in: Aniceto Masferrer, Emilio García-Sánchez (eds), Human dignity of the vulnerable in the age of rights, Berlin, Springer, 2016

Abstract

This study is framed within the objectives of Clinical Ontology, namely, the formulation of true, coherent and accessible discourses in order to help patients manage unavoidable and destructive experiences about the nature of being, becoming, and its limits. First, I analyze four different inauthentic experiences (IE), which are deeply associated with neuro-technological development, and from which are emerging a new and growing vulnerable group of patients. Second, I propose two basis conditions for a successful ontological treatment: (a) the patient should value the unpleasant feelings of IE negatively; and (b) the patient should believe that a better understanding of reality (or at least, of his or her own life) provides a means to neutralize and replace unpleasant feelings with others that are more enjoyable and fulfilling. Finally, I defend that therapeutic technologies are not the only triggers of IE, hence they should not be the only target of investigation of this field.