%A Blanchet, Sean %A Devine, Sean %D 2018 %T Nootropics in Postmodernity: %! Nootropics in Postmodernity: %X <p>Pharmaceutical products aimed at enhancing cognitive performance – smart drugs, nootropics, etc – have garnered considerable attention. Many ethical questions accompany their growth in popularity. Three of these questions will be addressed in this paper: Do nootropics preclude authenticity? Are nootropics a good thing for society? And, is it fair to use nootropics? We argue that these questions can be answered by appealing to Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari’s concepts of <italic>individuation</italic>, <italic>Society of Control</italic>, and <italic>dividuation</italic>. On the one hand, drawing on the concept of extrinsic <italic>individuation</italic>, we posit that nootropics have the potential to expand horizons, disrupt traditional human-object interactions, and allow users to experience their surroundings in novel, more authentic, ways. On the other, it also risks concentrating success in the hands of a minority of individuals and reinforce the normative power of the <italic>Society of Control</italic>. Ultimately, we suggest that whether it is fair, indeed ethical, to use nootropics depends on the control the user has over herself and her cognition within the <italic>Society of Control</italic>.</p> %U https://doi.org/10.21552/delphi/2018/1/10 %0 Journal Article %R 10.21552/delphi/2018/1/10 %J Delphi - Interdisciplinary Review of Emerging Technologies %V 1 %N 1