Educating Pharmacologically: Some Ethical Obstacles to Using Neuro-Enhancing Drugs in Schools

• In Event: 75.042 - MTCC Roundtable Session 34
  In Roundtable Session: 75.042-12 - Equal Educational Opportunity: Challenges and Possibilities

Abstract

Neuroenhancing drugs, like Adderall, Ritalin and other substances that enhance cognitive functioning, have great educational promise. Their use in educational settings is rising (Schwartz, 2016), but it is currently circumscribed to the population of those diagnosed with ADHD. Is this circumscription ethically sound? Should neuroenhancing drugs be used on a wider basis to further our educational goals? In this paper, I address some objections to the widespread use of neuroenhancing drugs in educational settings. I examine the ethical nuances that these objections raise. I conclude that while the use of neuroenhancing drugs in education is not morally impermissible on the whole, there are ethical obstacles we should want to consider and avoid.

Author

• Zachary L. Barber, University of Rochester