![]() ![]() Transhumanism became a political agenda that seeks, on one hand the betterment, and on the other, the survival of humanity. The second event, the founding of The World Transhumanist Association in 1998, helped shape the current transhumanist program into its contemporary form. This book played a huge role in making the theory a proper philosophical position, bringing it out of darkened bedrooms of geeks and into the world of academia. The first event was the publication of Are you a Transhuman? (1989) by FM-2030 (formerly known as F.M. Two events were necessary for the intellectual development of transhumanism as a philosophical position. Transhumanism agenda tv#Books, TV shows, films, and plays have been created as thought experiments for examining possible future scenarios for humanity’s development.Ībstract Digital Human Face, Maksim Tkachenko, 2019 It is precisely a wake-up call that these realizations have impacted on transhumanism, helping it develop into a philosophy aiming at saving humanity from impending destruction. The fact that a single asteroid could potentially exterminate humankind is, if not a stark reminder of our mortality, at least a wake-up call. Please check your inbox to activate your subscription Thank you!įrom techno-optimism to techno-scepticism or pessimism, this change seems to mirror the growing realization on the fragile nature of humanity. However, contemporary science-fiction series’ like Battlestar Galactica, Elysium or The Expanse have taken a more dystopian perspective on humanity’s future. One of the early science fiction hallmarks was a techno-optimism that envisioned the unlimited possibilities for human development and property. Clarke became important figures whose visions shaped an entire generation’s conception of the future. Writers like Karel Čapek, Isaac Asimov, Stanisław Lem, and Arthur C. In the years after WWII, the genre of science-fiction developed and caught the imagination of the public. ![]() SciFi City by Vablo, 2016, via DeviantArt ![]() Let us continue to the development of transhumanism as a philosophical position. Transcendence (the term from which transhumanism takes its prefix), or overcoming our present physical, mental, economic, or technological limitations, is a vital aim for most transhumanists. For Bostrom and other transhumanists, this means that the phase humanity is currently in could potentially (and perhaps should) be transcended. Each of them suggests a novel understanding of humanity which does not see humanity’s current stage as “the endpoint of evolution but rather as a possibly quite early phase” (Bostrom, 2005). Transhumanism, according to Bostrom, began with the publication of Darwin’s Origin of Species (1859) and Nietzsche’s conception of the Übermensch, in Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883).īoth these books are important because they form the beginning of the philosophical foundation of transhumanism. Bostrom locates the first notion of extending human life as far back as the Epic of Gilgamesh (1700 B.C.). In A History of Transhumanist Thought, the Swedish philosopher Nick Bostrom outlines the history of transhumanism in a straightforward and well-argued manner. Transhumanism: A Historical Perspective Transhumanism, Artist unknown, via ![]()
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