Alberto Masala – Transhumanism and biological human nature
June 23rd, 2009
Historically, the transhumanist movement has been skeptical about the concept of biological human nature. While the idea that human beings share important non-biologically defined properties such as intelligence or sensibility goes hand in hand with the project of modifying the biological substratum of these features (and create new kinds of beings who display them even better), reference to our shared biological heritage has been seen as a rhetorical strategy used by opponents (Unesco 1997; Fukuyama 2003).
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Andy Miah – Human enhancement and the accumulation of biocultural capital
June 23rd, 2009
There is no single answer that can apply to the whole of humanity as to why we should live longer, why we should be more enhanced, why we should lead any particular kind of life at all, argues Andy Miah. Instead, he urges us to appeal to the idea that people spend their lives trying to accumulate various kinds of capital: we educate ourselves, we undertake physical activity, we develop relationships with each other, and we might also wish to self-modify our bodies because we think that these activities enrich our lives.
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Marc Roux – Transhumanism and political action?
June 23rd, 2009
What is the relation between the questions that the transhumanist movement poses, in other words the perspectives of “human evolution”, and the political action?
I have not examined this question in depth yet, but I intent to transmit, as a simple testimony, my impressions from a recent convention that took place in Brussels, on the 24th of February. It was organized by an extension of the European Parliament (STOA- Science and Technology Options Assessment-), and its subject was: “A European approach to human enhancement”.
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Ghislain Perreau – Biotechnologies and individual liberties
April 6th, 2009
The issue of knowing the new boundaries between individual freedom – the freedom of everyone to use their body – and prevention poses a lot of problems. It is true, in the biotechnology sector, we are invited to define if the use of new technologies that aim at the improvement of humans should or shouldn’t be controlled and limited for reasons of prevention and precaution. In order to answer this question, we can study the positions of thinkers like John Harris, Ronald Βailey or James Hughes.[1]
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Michael Hauskeller – Lives wonderful beyond imagination
April 6th, 2009
Transhumanists want to create better lives by creating better people, and better people by radically changing our biological composition and structure. They are convinced that we can effect changes that will allow us (or our descendants) to have “lives wonderful beyond imagination” (Nick Bostrom) and to experience “states of divine happiness” (David Pearce). We are going to be so incredibly happy because we will be able to think much better, vastly expand our knowledge, become more able to appreciate great art, control our emotions, understand other people, have (unimaginably) better sex, and much more.
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Andrea Mancuso – The self-surgeons
April 6th, 2009
“ The possibility for the individual of being both the subject and object of his own knowledge implies an inversion in the structure of finitude.”
– Foucault “Birth of the Clinic”
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Ghislain Perreau – Biotechnologies et libertés individuelles
April 4th, 2009
La question de savoir quelles sont les nouvelles limites entre la liberté individuelle -en tant que liberté de chacun d’utiliser son propre corps- et la prévention soulève de nombreux problèmes. En effet cette question, dans le domaine des biotechnologies, revient à déterminer si l’usage des nouvelles technologies qui visent à améliorer l’homme doit ou non être encadré et limité en vertu d’un soucis de prévention et de précaution. Afin de répondre à cette question, nous pouvons étudier les positions de certains penseurs tels que John Harris, Ronald Bailey ou James Hughes.[1]
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