Biomedical Technologies

This chapter focuses on feminist philosophical engagement with biomedical technologies, such as the development of in vitro fertilisation (IVF), genetic engineering, bionic implants, neural interventions, and synthetic biology. The chapter starts with a short account of the contemporaneous rise of bioethics as a subdiscipline of philosophy, a range of emerging biomedical technologies and the second wave of feminist political action and theory. It outlines some key feminist philosophical approaches to issues in biomedicine: including those focusing on autonomy and choice; care and care work; and the moral significance of narrative, embodiment and phenomenological experience. It ends by identifying some evolving future directions for feminist philosophical contributions to emerging technologies informed by discussion of vulnerability and dependence; disability, neural diversity, and human enhancement.