Transhumanism as a New Social Movement
Transhumanism as a New Social Movement

Author: James Michael MacFarlane

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2020-05-19

Total Pages: 245

ISBN-13: 3030400905

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This book explores Technological Human Enhancement Advocacy through ethnographically inspired participant observation across a range of sites. James Michael MacFarlane argues that such advocacy is characterized by ‘Techno-centrism,' a belief grounded in today’s world while being also future-oriented and drawn from the imagination. This blurring of ‘real’ and ‘imagined’ futures borrows from the materialist grounding of the scientific worldview, while granting extended license to visions for technology as an enabler of forward-facing action, which include reviving humanist ideals associated with the modernization project. While Techno-centrism is arguably most pronounced in transhumanism—where it is acted-out in extreme, almost hyperbolic ways—it reflects more generally held, deep-seeded concerns around the future of science, technology and human self-identity in the new millennium. Far from being new, these emerging social forms capture unresolved ambivalences which have long cast a shadow over late-modern society and culture.

The Transhumanist Movement
The Transhumanist Movement

Author: Francesco Paolo Adorno

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2021-11-02

Total Pages: 237

ISBN-13: 3030824233

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The book is published as part of the "PRIN 2017 The Dark side of the Law". This volume analyzes the theoretical underpinnings of the academic transhumanism movement, beginning with the relationship between anthropology and technique. The author focuses on the question of immortality, which can be considered the core of transhumanism. The true depth of immortality will be discussed, through which and how many transformations could be produced in order to change our society, which is basically shaped by and for human mortal beings, in a society composed by immortal persons. Some writers have written about what a future populated with immortals might look like, which is far removed from both the bright future painted by transhumanists and from the disappearance of humanity feared by bioconservatives.

Transhumanism
Transhumanism

Author: Jennifer Huberman

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2020-12-17

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 1108835937

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Through a detailed exploration of the study of transhumanism, this book introduces students to the discipline of cultural anthropology.

Transhumanism
Transhumanism

Author: Andrew Pilsch

Publisher: U of Minnesota Press

Published: 2017-08-15

Total Pages: 347

ISBN-13: 1452954887

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Transhumanism posits that humanity is on the verge of rapid evolutionary change as a result of emerging technologies and increased global consciousness. However, this insight is dismissed as a naive and controversial reframing of posthumanist thought, having also been vilified as “the most dangerous idea in the world” by Francis Fukuyama. In this book, Andrew Pilsch counters these critiques, arguing instead that transhumanism’s utopian rhetoric actively imagines radical new futures for the species and its habitat. Pilsch situates contemporary transhumanism within the longer history of a rhetorical mode he calls “evolutionary futurism” that unifies diverse texts, philosophies, and theories of science and technology that anticipate a radical explosion in humanity’s cognitive, physical, and cultural potentialities. By conceptualizing transhumanism as a rhetoric, as opposed to an obscure group of fringe figures, he explores the intersection of three major paradigms shaping contemporary Western intellectual life: cybernetics, evolutionary biology, and spiritualism. In analyzing this collision, his work traces the belief in a digital, evolutionary, and collective future through a broad range of texts written by theologians and mystics, biologists and computer scientists, political philosophers and economic thinkers, conceptual artists and Golden Age science fiction writers. Unearthing the long history of evolutionary futurism, Pilsch concludes, allows us to more clearly see the novel contributions that transhumanism offers for escaping our current geopolitical bind by inspiring radical utopian thought.

The Transhumanist Reader
The Transhumanist Reader

Author: Max More

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2013-03-05

Total Pages: 480

ISBN-13: 1118555996

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The first authoritative and comprehensive survey of the origins and current state of transhumanist thinking The rapid pace of emerging technologies is playing an increasingly important role in overcoming fundamental human limitations. Featuring core writings by seminal thinkers in the speculative possibilities of the posthuman condition, essays address key philosophical arguments for and against human enhancement, explore the inevitability of life extension, and consider possible solutions to the growing issues of social and ethical implications and concerns. Edited by the internationally acclaimed founders of the philosophy and social movement of transhumanism, The Transhumanist Reader is an indispensable guide to our current state of knowledge of the quest to expand the frontiers of human nature.

Transhumanism and Society
Transhumanism and Society

Author: Stephen Lilley

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-07-31

Total Pages: 97

ISBN-13: 9400749813

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This book provides an introductory overview to the social debate over enhancement technologies with an overview of the transhumanists' call to bypass human nature and conservationists' argument in defense of it. The author present this controversy as it unfolds in the contest between transhumanists proponents and conservationists, who push back with an argument to conserve human nature and to ban enhancement technologies. This book provides an overview of the key contested points and present the debate in an orderly, constructive fashion. Readers are informed about the discussion over humanism, the tension between science and religion, and the interpretation of socio-technological revolutions; and are invited to make up their own mind about one of the most challenging topics concerning the social and ethical implications of technological advancements.

Transhumanism and the Image of God
Transhumanism and the Image of God

Author: Jacob Shatzer

Publisher: InterVarsity Press

Published: 2019-04-09

Total Pages: 198

ISBN-13: 0830865780

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Examining the transhumanist movement, biblical ethicist Jacob Shatzer grapples with the potential for technology to transform the way we think about what it means to be human. Exploring the doctrine of incarnation and topics such as artificial intelligence, robotics, medical technology, and communications tools, he guides us into careful consideration of the future of Christian discipleship in a disruptive technological environment.

The Techno-Human Condition
The Techno-Human Condition

Author: Braden R. Allenby

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2011-04-22

Total Pages: 235

ISBN-13: 0262294400

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A provocative analysis of what it means to be human in an era of incomprehensible technological complexity and change. In The Techno-Human Condition, Braden Allenby and Daniel Sarewitz explore what it means to be human in an era of incomprehensible technological complexity and change. They argue that if we are to have any prospect of managing that complexity, we will need to escape the shackles of current assumptions about rationality, progress, and certainty, even as we maintain a commitment to fundamental human values. Humans have been co-evolving with their technologies since the dawn of prehistory. What is different now is that we have moved beyond external technological interventions to transform ourselves from the inside out—even as we also remake the Earth system itself. Coping with this new reality, say Allenby and Sarewitz, means liberating ourselves from such categories as “human,” “technological,” and “natural” to embrace a new techno-human relationship. Contributors Boris Barbour, Mario Biagioli, Paul S. Brookes, Finn Brunton, Alex Csiszar, Alessandro Delfanti, Emmanuel Didier, Sarah de Rijcke, Daniele Fanelli, Yves Gingras, James R. Griesemer, Catherine Guaspare, Marie-Andrée Jacob, Barbara M. Kehm, Cyril Labbé, Jennifer Lin, Alexandra Lippman, Burkhard Morganstern, Ivan Oransky, Michael Power, Sergio Sismondo, Brandon Stell, Tereza Stöckelová, Elizabeth Wager, Paul Wouters

Death is Wrong
Death is Wrong

Author: Gennady Stolyarov II

Publisher: Rational Argumentator Press

Published: 2013-12-11

Total Pages: 41

ISBN-13: 0615932045

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If you have ever asked, “Why do people have to die?” then this book is for you. The answer is that no, death is not necessary, inevitable, or good. In fact, death is wrong. Death is the enemy of us all, to be fought with medicine, science, and technology. This book introduces you to the greatest, most challenging, most revolutionary movement to radically extend human lifespans so that you might not have to die at all. You will learn about some amazingly long-lived plants and animals, recent scientific discoveries that point the way toward lengthening lifespans in humans, and simple, powerful arguments that can overcome the common excuses for death. If you have ever thought that death is unjust and should be defeated, you are not alone. Read this book, and become part of the most important quest in human history. This book was written by the philosopher and futurist Gennady Stolyarov II and illustrated by the artist Wendy Stolyarov. It is here to show you that, no matter who you are and what you can do, there is always a way for you to help in humanity’s struggle against death. "I thought the book was fun to read and important in what it tries to accomplish." - Zoltan Istvan, Psychology Today

We Have Always Been Cyborgs
We Have Always Been Cyborgs

Author: Stefan Lorenz Sorgner

Publisher: Policy Press

Published: 2021-11-04

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 1529219205

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This visionary new book explores the critical issues that link transhumanism with digitalisation, gene technologies and ethics. It examines the history and meaning of transhumanism, offering insightful reflections on values, norms and utopia.