Technologies of the body, Grant Gillett is a Professor of biomedical ethics at the University of Otago. He is also a neurosurgeon and worked in clinical practice until 2006. He studied medicine at the Auckland Medical School and also completed a Masters degree in Psychology. He became an overseas fellow in Neurosurgery at The Radcliffe Infirmary and then completed a D.Phil at Oxford University and was appointed fellow of Magdalen College in 1985.

Cyborgs are human-machine complexes with prosthetic abilities. Where the enhancements remediate a defect we are prepared to acknowledge their value but where they seem to create an unfair advantage over others we feel disturbed. How good can a person be before a compensation for their disability makes them differently abled being in quite another sense. We accept and even welcome enhancement of natural abilities in officials but direct advantaging of competitors is quite another thing. Why – when does good preparation and careful optimisation of ability cross a boundary and why do we care? A range of ethical arguments will be examined to see which, if any, give us a plausible and defensible line to take on this issue.

Held, September 2011.