Posthuman

Posthumanism

In critical theory , the posthuman is a speculative being that represents or seeks to re-conceive the human . It is the object of posthumanist criticism, which critically questions humanism , a branch of humanist philosophy which claims that human nature is a universal state from which the human being emerges; human nature is autonomous, rational, capable of free will , and unified in itself as the apex of existence . Thus, the position posthuman imperfectability and disunity within him or her, and understands the world through heterogeneous perspectives while seeking to maintain intellectual rigorand a dedication to objective observations. Key to this posthuman practice is the ability to fluidly change perspectives and manifest oneself through different identities . The posthuman, for critical theorists of the subject, has an emergent ontology rather than a stable one; in other words, the posthuman is not a singular, defined individual , but rather one who can “become” or embody different identities and understand the world from multiple, heterogeneous perspectives. ^[4]

Critical discourses surrounding posthumanism are not homogeneous, but in fact present a series of often contradictory ideas, and the term is contested, with one of the foremost authors associated with posthumanism, Landa’s Manual , decrying the term as “very silly.” ^[5] Covering the ideas of, for example, Robert Pepperell’s The Posthuman Condition , and Hayles’s How We Became Posthuman is distinctly problematic due to these contradictions.

The posthuman is roughly synonymous with the ” cyborg ” of A Cyborg Manifesto by Donna Haraway . ^[6] Haraway’s conception of the cyborg is an ironic take on traditional conceptions of the cyborg that inverts the traditional trope of the cyborg whose presence questions the salient line between humans and robots . Haraway’s cyborg is in many ways the “beta” version of the posthuman, as her cyborg theory prompted the issue to be taken up in critical theory. ^[7] Following Haraway, Hayles, whose work grounds much of the critical posthuman discourse, asserts that liberal humanism – which separates the mind from the bodyand thus portrays the body as a “shell” or vehicle for the mind – becomes more complicated in the late 20th and 21st centuries because of information technology puts the human body in question. Hayles argues that we must be conscious of information technology advancements while understanding information as “disembodied,” that is, something which can not fundamentally replace the human body but only be incorporated into it and human life practices. ^[8]

Post-posthumanism and post-cyborg ethics

The idea of ​​post-posthumanism (post-cyborgism) has recently been introduced. ^{[9] [10] [11] [12] [13]} This body of work after the effects of long-term adaptation to cyborg technologies and their subsequent removal, eg, what happens after 20 years of constantly wearing computer-mediating eyeglass technologies and the future of them, and of long-term adaptation to virtual worlds followed by return to “reality.” ^[14] [15] and the associated post-cyborg ethics (eg the ethics of forced removal of cyborg technologies by authorities, etc.). ^[16]

Posthuman political and natural rights have been framed on a spectrum with animals rights and human rights. ^[17]

Transhumanism

Definition

Selon transhumanist thinkers, has posthuman is a hypothetical future being white “whose basic Capacities so Radically Exceed Those of present humans as to be no follow unambiguously human by our current standards.” ^[18] . Posthumans primarly focus on cybernetics, the posthuman and the relationship to digital technology. The emphasis is on systems. Transhumanism does not focus on either of these. Instead, transhumanism focuses on the modification of the human species via any kind of emerging science, including genetic engineering, digital technology, and bioengineering ^[19] .

Methods

Posthumans completely Call Could Be synthetic artificial intelligences, gold symbiosis of human and artificial intelligence , or uploaded consciousnesses , or the result of making Many smaller goal Profound technological cumulatively increases to a biological human, ie a cyborg . Some examples of the latter are redesigning the human organism using advanced nanotechnology or radical enhancement using a combination of such technologies as genetic engineering , psychopharmacology , life extension therapies, neural interfaces , advanced information management tools , and memory enhancing drugs., wearable or implanted computers, and cognitive techniques. ^[18]

Posthuman future

As used in this article, “posthuman” does not necessarily refer to a future where humans are extinct or otherwise absent from the Earth . As speci fi cans of others , both humans and posthumans could continue to exist. HOWEVER, the apocalyptic scenario Appears to be a viewpoint shared Among a minority of transhumanists Such As Marvin Minsky ^{[ citation needed ]} and Hans Moravec , Who Could be regarded misanthropic , at least in regard to humanity in icts current state. Alternatively, others such as Kevin Warwickargues for the likelihood that both humans and posthumans will continue to exist because of their abilities. ^[20] Recently, scholars have begun to speculate that posthumanism provides an alternative analysis of apocalyptic cinema and fiction, often casting vampires, werewolves and even zombies as potential evolutions of the human form and being. ^[21]

Many science fiction authors , Such As Greg Egan , HG Wells , Isaac Asimov , Bruce Sterling , Frederik Pohl , Greg Bear , Charles Stross , Neal Asher , Ken MacLeod , Peter F. Hamilton and authors of the Orion’s Arm Universe , ^[22] -have written works set in posthuman future.

Posthuman god

A variation on the posthuman theme is the concept of a “posthuman god”; That the idea posthumans, being white No. along confined to the parameters of human kind , might grow PHYSICALLY and mentally so as to Appear Powerful Possibly god -like by present-day human standards. ^[18] This notion shoulds not be construed as being white related to the idea portrayed In Some science fiction That has Sufficiently advanced species may “ascend” to A Higher plane of existence -rather, it means clustering That Merely Some posthuman Beings May Become so exceedingly clever and technologically sophisticated that their behavior would be understandable to modern humans, purely by reason of their limited intelligence and imagination.^[23]

See also

References