Beyond the weak and strong life extension divisionDon’t add years to life if you cannot add life to those years

  1. García-Barranquero, Pablo 1
  1. 1 Universidad de Málaga
    info

    Universidad de Málaga

    Málaga, España

    ROR https://ror.org/036b2ww28

Journal:
Arbor: Ciencia, pensamiento y cultura

ISSN: 0210-1963

Year of publication: 2022

Volume: 198

Issue: 805

Type: Article

DOI: 10.3989/ARBOR.2022.805002 DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openOpen access editor

More publications in: Arbor: Ciencia, pensamiento y cultura

Abstract

The philosophical and scientific debate about life extension is polarized between two views: a weak and a strong stances. They are divided over their approach to the age of Jeanne Calment, or what is the same, the maximum life span of the human species. In this article, I will evaluate this division and I will propose other alternative for thinking about the life extension possibilities. In order to do so, I will first review five key concepts in the literature, since some of them are misunderstood by the authors who defend this division. Furthermore, this division suffers from a major flaw: the failure to acknowledge that maximum life span is not a fixed number, and that there are no strong arguments to ensure that this is the limit to human longevity. Moreover, I will argue that these authors do not adequately capture the main aspect that we care about when we address the issue of improving the quality of life throughout our existence.

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