Is the use of modafinil, a pharmacological cognitive enhancer, cheating?
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Is the use of modafinil, a pharmacological cognitive enhancer, cheating? / Porsdam Mann, Sebastian; de Lora Deltoro, Pablo; Cochrane, Thomas; Mitchell, Christine.
In: Ethics and Education, Vol. 13, No. 2, 04.05.2018, p. 251-267.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Is the use of modafinil, a pharmacological cognitive enhancer, cheating?
AU - Porsdam Mann, Sebastian
AU - de Lora Deltoro, Pablo
AU - Cochrane, Thomas
AU - Mitchell, Christine
PY - 2018/5/4
Y1 - 2018/5/4
N2 - Drugs used to provide improvement of cognitive functioning have been shown to be effective in healthy individuals. It is sometimes assumed that the use of these drugs constitutes cheating in an academic context. We examine whether this assumption is ethically sound. Beyond providing the most up-to-date discussion of modafinil use in an academic context, this contribution includes an overview of the safety of modafinil use in greater depth than previous studies addressing the issue of cheating. Secondly, we emphasize two crucial, but hitherto nearly overlooked, nuances to the issues: (a) the potential for modafinil to decrease inequality and disadvantage in academic settings, and (b) the fact that how modafinil is used dramatically impacts its effects on health, coercion, fairness, authenticity and effort. Finally, we explicitly defend the position that there are no qualitatively morally relevant differences between modafinil use and other enhancement modalities; any such differences are in degree, not kind.
AB - Drugs used to provide improvement of cognitive functioning have been shown to be effective in healthy individuals. It is sometimes assumed that the use of these drugs constitutes cheating in an academic context. We examine whether this assumption is ethically sound. Beyond providing the most up-to-date discussion of modafinil use in an academic context, this contribution includes an overview of the safety of modafinil use in greater depth than previous studies addressing the issue of cheating. Secondly, we emphasize two crucial, but hitherto nearly overlooked, nuances to the issues: (a) the potential for modafinil to decrease inequality and disadvantage in academic settings, and (b) the fact that how modafinil is used dramatically impacts its effects on health, coercion, fairness, authenticity and effort. Finally, we explicitly defend the position that there are no qualitatively morally relevant differences between modafinil use and other enhancement modalities; any such differences are in degree, not kind.
KW - Modafinil
KW - academic inequality
KW - cheating
KW - fairness
KW - pharmacological cognitive enhancement
KW - safety
UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/14c4ff12-2012-3420-820b-43a25bd349ea/
U2 - 10.1080/17449642.2018.1443050
DO - 10.1080/17449642.2018.1443050
M3 - Journal article
VL - 13
SP - 251
EP - 267
JO - Ethics and Education
JF - Ethics and Education
SN - 1744-9650
IS - 2
ER -
ID: 383103847