Team Human vs Team Borg

Scientific and technological advances have questioned predominant doctrines concerning the human condition. Transhumanism and posthumanism are among the most recent and prominent manifestations of this phenomenon. Debates on trans- and posthumanism have not only gained a considerable amount of academic and popular attention recently, but have also created a widespread conceptual confusion. This is no surprise, considering their recent dates of origin, their conceptual similarities, and their engagements with similar questions, topics, and motifs. Furthermore, trans- as well as posthumanism frequently question their relationship to humanism and reconsider what it means to be human. In this regard both movements are streaming beyond humanism. What this means, however, is far from clear and shall be subject of discussion in this volume.

Religion and the concept of spirituality will change when man can live forever in the Transhuman and Posthuman environment.

Im@go. A Journal of the Social Imaginary, 2016

Transhumanism is a cultural and philosophical movement born in the United States during the 1980s as a product of the technological revolution represented by the mass distribution of information technology and cybernetics, as well as by the first scientific studies on nanotechnologies. Transhumanism preaches the possibility of a technological enhancement of the human body, both through the use of technological prosthesis that by means of a life extension made possible by the use of genetics, biomedical engineering and nanotechnology. The ultimate goal of transhumanism is to completely overcome the need of a biological hardware through the integral fusion between man and machine made possible by the mind-uploading, a technique that would pour out on a digital infrastructure the entire contents of the human mind. In this paper I intend to analyze the assumptions of transhumanism from a perspective of " technological imagination " , claiming that this cultural movement represents a new kind of utopia, if not even a modern New Age-style religion that blends techno-optimistic statements of scientific and technological research with the collective imagination of cyberculture, resulting in a kind of mystique of technological development. The concept of " singularity " , preached by the theorists of transhumanism (Ray Kurzweil, Nick Bostrom, Max More and others) seems quite similar to the Christian idea of the " end of times " , after which it is expected the emergence of a new type of humanity. In particular, the argument that transhumanism can be considered a new kind of " technological " religion is based on the analysis of the role that the issue of death plays within the transhumanist discourse. As in most religions and utopian narratives, transhumanism believes that it is possible to defeat death, in this case through the use of scientific and technological progress. Transhumanism supporters are willing to put their bodies into hibernation to wait the future resurrection in a world where death has been defeated. Therefore, transhumanism can be considered a cult of our times, a product of a particular social imaginary of the techno-scientific development.

2022

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ANNALS of the University of Bucharest, 2022

Transhumanism is a cultural and philosophical movement that advocates for the use of technology to improve the human condition and overcome limitations as a species. The question of whether the transhumanist goal of a posthuman future is desirable remains open, as it depends on the values and goals that guide the process of technological enhancement. The essay inspects what it would mean to utilize nietzschean values and goals within the process of technological enhancement. Eventhough some consider Nietzche to be a proto-transhumanist, there is more then ample reason to believe that such an association is misguided. The argument presented here highlights why we need to avoid imbuing the goals of transhumanism with nietzschean values. To argue for the dangers inherent in nietzschean ideal the current work draws upon Losurdo and highlights the strongly Reactionary elements that can be found within Nietzsche's philosophy. Next the paper presents how by adding the Borg is a good representation of a society that has added technological enhancements upon a foundation of nietzschean ideal and encourages the abandonment of such utopian aspirations.

NOTE: This is the self-archive version of the chapter “Humans Have Always Been Posthuman: A Spiritual Genealogy of the Posthuman” In: Banerji, D., Paranjape, M.R. (eds.) Critical Posthumanism and Planetary Futures, Springer, October 2016, pp. 243-256. ISBN: 978-81-322-3637-5 (Print). For the final version of this article, please purchase the chapter: http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-81-322-3637-5_15 ABSTRACT: This article wishes to unveil the relevance of spirituality in the genealogy of Cultural, Critical and Philosophical Posthumanism. In its genealogical endeavor, it expands the lens of the posthuman outside of Western academia, to Eastern traditions of thought such as Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Yoga and Tantrism. This article first provides an introduction to the topic of Posthumanism and spirituality. Secondly, it highlights ancient spiritual traditions which are in tune with the posthuman approach; lastly, it elaborates on the development of the spiritual politics of the posthuman, by emphasizing the relevance of Posthumanism as a contemporary philosophy of life. This article argues that spirituality, in its all-encompassing signification, is in tune with the core meaning of the posthuman post-dualistic perspective. And still, this article also wishes to emphasize that no specific tradition can be regarded as fully representative of the posthuman, as most of these traditional systems of thought, once systematized, have adapted to anthropocentric and humanistic paradigms. This is why, although Posthumanism is deeply indebted to the spiritual realm, its offerings are unique, original and very much needed. In the age of the Anthropocene, Posthumanism is required to develop daily ethics of living based on an integral investment of its post-anthropocentric premises. The notion of spirituality dramatically broadens our understanding of the posthuman, allowing us to investigate not only technical technologies (robotics, cybernetics, biotechnology, nanotechnology, among others), but also, technologies of existence. In this sense, humans have always been posthuman.

Journal of Evolution and Technology, 2005

There are three basic constructions of the relationship between science and religion: science and religion in conflict, science and religion as non-overlapping domains, and science and religion as mutually beneficial. So often, the cultural conception is that science and religion are in conflict, and that science is a superior discipline to all others. It seems that science has time and time again extended into the realm of religion in that it has intended to become a source of hope and salvation, in much the way that religion is intended to be. In order to proceed with the argument that Transhumanism is a religion, I will establish some consistent commonalities between religions so as to map them onto Transhumanism. Culturally, we fight the idea that religion is a good source of knowledge because we require tangible, scientific evidence to be convinced of truth. There have been numerous attempts to replace religion with science , and Transhumanism is the most recent manifestation of this pattern.

Journal of Evolution and Technology, 2014

A stream in transhumanism argues that the aims of Buddhism and transhumanists are akin. It is the case that transhumanism contains religious tropes, and its parallels to Christianity are readily apparent. It does not share much, however, with Buddhism's Zen tradition. Zen tends to focus its practitioners on becoming fully present and human, not on becoming transcendent, super-powered, or posthuman. This paper explores some of the tensions between transhumanism and Buddhism through the lens of Zen, and suggests that transhumanist Buddhists should be careful not to conflate moments of spiritual enlightenment with permanent techno-social transcendence.

Journal of Evolution and Technology (JET), 2015

As post- and transhumanism have become ever-hotter topics over the past decade or so, their boundaries have become muddled by misappropriations and misunderstandings of what defines them, and especially what distinguishes them from each other. This edition of essays by various experts, edited by Robert Ranisch and Stefan Sorgner, goes a long way to resolve these issues. The introductory essay by the two editors – both of whom are philosophers – is alone worth the book’s purchase price. They give a very straightforward and understandable synopsis of what defines posthumanism, transhumanism, and the posthuman; and they also give thumbnail sketches of the major differences between them. Basically, transhumanists believe in improving the human species by using any and every form of emerging technology. Technology is meant in the broad sense here: it includes everything from pharmaceuticals to digital technology, genetic modification to nanotechnology. The posthuman is the state that transhumans aspire to: a state in which our species is both morally and physically improved, and maybe immortal – a species improved to the point where we perhaps become a different (and thus “posthuman”) species altogether.

2020

This chapter distinguishes “transhuman” from “posthuman” and introduces transhumanism as an intellectual and cultural movement. The chapter refers the reader to the transhumanist “Letter to Mother Nature,” thanking nature for the present state of evolution, but suggesting it is time for technologically-driven amendments to the human species. Major themes of the world’s religions useful in evaluating enhancement technology are summarized, with attention given to some basic differences between monotheistic and karmic traditions. A liberal-conservative theological continuum, helpful in understanding religious responses to transhumanism, is presented. The two main religious transhumanist organizations are introduced: Mormon Transhumanist Association and Christian Transhumanist Association. Models of the relationship between religion and science (conflict, independence, dialogue/integration) are identified and their potential usefulness in understanding religion’s response to transhumani...

As biotechnologies, nanotechnologies, and artificial intelligence are converging, not only the human body but also what it means to be human becomes at stake in whole new ways. While Enlightenment humanism promised freedom and progress for every human being by stressing the idea of a "universal essence of Man", in its practices it often failed to meet its own ideals, and hence could not fulfill its promises. Contesting the very dichotomy of culture and nature, 'we' and 'them', humans and nonhumans, feminist and postcolonial scholars emphasized the existential need for decentering and deconstructing the anthropocentrism, essentialism, and universalism inherent to Enlightenment humanism. Shifting the focus to the marginalized and marked-that is, to "all constituted as others, whose task is to mirror the self", as Donna Haraway put it-posthumanist theories aim for novel critical figures and tropes in a world thoroughly transformed by technobiopower and the technosciences. At the same time, transhumanism gains a foothold as a kind of technophilic hyper-humanism that seeks to take control over human evolution itself through the means of existing and hypothetical future technologies such as cognition enhancing drugs, nanotechnologies, cryotechnologies, and whole brain emulation. In this seminar, we will critically reconstruct these debates and explore their promises and dangers. In doing so, we will discuss how the authors are engaging with the question of what it means to be non-/human and how human bodies are being transformed by rapid advances in science and technology. What is our relationship to the 'natural' world? Do new biotechnologies, nanotechnologies and information-and communication technologies determine the ways we think, act, and feel both as individuals and societies? And how do we construct a politics and common world in this new era of the posthuman?