Generation Lobotomy

Abstract

This paper primarily explores the ethical debate surrounding the use of memory erasure for therapeutic ends. It argues that procedures such as kinase inhibition therapy, which can entail memory erasure in the individual, incur a high cost in terms of the integrity of our individual identities, thus jeopardizing our claim to individual rights and accountability. Therefore, we should reserve such therapies for the extreme cases in which the procedures have the potential to actually restore a person’s autonomy. Furthermore, this paper goes on to explore which situations might fit this criterion, while still accounting for the cost of memory erasure in each instance.