Health in Prospect - High-tech Medicine, Life Enhancement and the Economy of Hope

In this article, high-tech medicine is approached as life enhancement technology.
Today, the most advanced medical technology operates on the level of cells and molecules,
thus opening unprecedented prospects not only for curing and preventing
illness but also for shaping of life itself. Thus, high-tech medicine seems to offer more
efficient means to remove the restrictions of physical abilities and to improve and
‘repair’ vital processes. It promises to enhance life. The essay focuses on two aspects
of this development. The first issue analysed is the tendency in high-tech medicine
to connect medical progress to augmentation of personal choices on health and life
improvement. Further, also the economical side is discussed by focusing on the role
the patients’ activism in high-tech medical business. The argument of the essay is
the following: the power to raise hopes for new cures and better life in people is a
crucial characteristic of today’s high-tech medicine. Consequently, it is the people
living in such a hope who provides uel for both technological progress and profitseeking
in today’s medicine.

Keywords: medical technology, personal health, hope