Tuesday 12 August 2008

Global Spiral: Special Issue Debating Transhumanism


I'm a little slow posting this, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to embellish it with some graphics from Cream and 21C Magazine.

June 2008
Volume 9, Issue 3
Special Issue on TranshumanismHava Tirosh-Samuelson Guest Editor

Engaging Transhumanism: The Meaning of Being Human by Hava Tirosh-Samuelson
“If one accepts that transhumanism is more than an ideology, indeed a philosophy, one must look carefully at its understanding of the human, of biology, and of the relationship between technology and culture.” more
Of Which Human Are We Post? by Don Ihde
“...[O]nly if humans are stupid enough to end up worshiping the very idols they create, could the fantasized replacement of humans by machines take place.” more
Cybernetics Is An Antihumanism by Jean-Pierre Dupuy
“For there is no science that does not rest on a metaphysics, though typically it remains concealed. It is the responsibility of the philosopher to uncover this metaphysics, and then to subject it to criticism.” more
Wrestling with Transhumanism by Katherine Hayles
“One need not agree with Francis Fukuyama that transhumanism is 'the world’s most dangerous idea' to appreciate the critiques of transhumanism enacted in science fiction.” more
Brains, Selves and Spirituality in the History of Cybernetics by Andrew Pickering
“All of the practices and states that I talk about in my paper are already marginalized in contemporary society—it feels vaguely embarrassing to talk about them in public. But at least the margins exist, and one can go there if one likes. The transhumanists would like to engineer them out of existence entirely and forever. Yes, I’m starting not to like transhumanism.” more
Transhumanism and the Posthuman Future by Ted Peters
“[T]ranshumanist assumptions regarding progress are naive, because they fail to operate with an anthropology that is realistic regarding the human proclivity to turn good into evil...[R]esearchers ...in genetics and nanotechnology should...maintain constant watchfulness for ways in which these technologies can become bent toward destructive purposes.” more
June 2008 Page 1 of 3 May 2008

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