The optimised and enhanced self: experiences of the self and the making of societal values

The desire to become better is at heart of human existence. This claim has been advocated, criticised, contested, and explored philosophically and empirically in studies of enhancement and optimisation-terms that refer to practices oriented towards betterment of the self and interventions in the present to create a better future. Today the terms optimisation and enhancement are not only associated with specialised disciplines but also with everyday practices where they reflect a moral imperative for human being to always strive to become better versions of themselves. The purpose of this chapter is twofold: firstly, to present the two terms and map the different positions in the discussion, mainly based on the work of scholars within bioethics; secondly, drawing from anthropological and qualitative work on pharmaceutical enhancement and self-tracking, the chapter will show how anthropological and qualitative studies have nuanced the bioethical debate as well as given rise to new sets of questions. Ultimately it is argued that both these practices inscribe themselves into societal values to produce a response to them.