24th Annual Student Research Conference
Antidepressants for an Uplifting Future?
Samantha R. Simms
Dr. Hena Ahmad, Faculty Mentor
In Our Posthuman Future, Francis Fukuyama outlines dangers that science poses to human dignity, which he defines as comprising the broad range of capabilities that all people possess and that make humans human. Fukuyama points out that emotion, which can influence morals and alter life perspectives, is one factor of human dignity. When emotions fall out of balance, Fukuyama highlights how medical science attempts to cure us with antidepressants. In recent years, the exponential increase of antidepressant prescriptions by the medical community, Fukuyama warns, threatens the human capacity to feel and connect with others by suppressing emotion. Notwithstanding the fact that much of Fukuyamas argument remains theoretical and that his point is not so much to discredit antidepressants as to respect emotion complex as a human right, this paper will argue that, as some studies reveal, antidepressants are not always the best or only treatment for depression.
Keywords: Francis Fukuyama, emotion, antidepressants, human dignity
Topic(s):English
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 15-3
Location: VH 1408
Time: 10:00