Mythologies Of Transhumanism

Author : Michael Hauskeller
Publisher : Springer
Page : 225 pages
File Size : 53,6 Mb
Release : 2016-11-09
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9783319397412

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Mythologies of Transhumanism by Michael Hauskeller Pdf

This book examines the dependence of transhumanist arguments on the credibility of the narratives of meaning in which they are embedded. By taking the key ideas from transhumanist philosophy – the desirability of human self-design and immortality, the elimination of all suffering and the expansion of human autonomy – Michael Hauskeller explores these narratives and the understanding of human nature that informs them. Particular attention is paid to the theory of transhumanism as a form of utopia, stories of human nature, the increasing integration of the radical human enhancement project into the cultural mainstream, and the drive to upgrade from flesh to machine.

Author : Mark O'Connell
Publisher : Anchor
Page : 258 pages
File Size : 45,5 Mb
Release : 2018-01-16
Category : Computers
ISBN : 9781101911594

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To Be a Machine by Mark O'Connell Pdf

“This gonzo-journalistic exploration of the Silicon Valley techno-utopians’ pursuit of escaping mortality is a breezy romp full of colorful characters.” —New York Times Book Review (editor's choice) Transhumanism is a movement pushing the limits of our biology—of our senses, intelligence, and lifespans—with technology. Its supporters have reached a critical mass and now include some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley and beyond, among them Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, and Ray Kurzweil. In this provocative and eye-opening account, journalist Mark O’Connell explores the staggering (and terrifying) possibilities that present themselves when you think of your body as an outmoded device. He visits the world’s foremost cryonics facility to witness how some have chosen to forestall death, discovers an underground collective of biohackers boosting their senses by implanting electronics under their skin, and meets with members of a team urgently investigating how to protect mankind from rogue artificial superintelligence. In investigating what it means to be a machine, O’Connell shines a light on our ancient desire to transcend the animal condition—and offers a surprising meditation on what it means to be human.

Author : Mattia Geretto
Publisher : Springer Nature
Page : 160 pages
File Size : 54,5 Mb
Release : 2024
Category : Metaphysics
ISBN : 9783031547195

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Humans, Angels, and Cyborgs Aboard Theseus' Ship by Mattia Geretto Pdf

"This book addresses the most suggestive themes of transhumanism and critical posthumanism by placing them in dialogue with classic problems of metaphysics, and with some great thinkers of the past (Bruno, Spinoza, and above all Leibniz). The main purpose of this comparison is to invite transhumanists and critical posthumanists to consider a highly complex problematic tradition rooted in the history of philosophy. This study also makes use of examples drawn from the history of mythology, angelology, and mysticism. At the same time, the book promotes dialogue between scholars of classical metaphysics and philosophy of religion, and the potential metaphysical/spiritual theories developed independently by transhumanist and posthumanist thinkers within an anti-dualist and naturalistic philosophical framework. The goal is to ‘enhance'contemporary transhumanism and posthumanism by promoting the need to safeguard intelligence as a principle, without falling into the trap of a violent and egotistic metaphysics." --

Author : Stefan Lorenz Sorgner
Publisher : Penn State Press
Page : 89 pages
File Size : 49,6 Mb
Release : 2020-12-08
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780271088419

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On Transhumanism by Stefan Lorenz Sorgner Pdf

Transhumanism is widely misunderstood, in part because the media have exaggerated current technologies and branded the movement as dangerous, leading many to believe that hybrid humans may soon walk among us and that immortality, achieved by means of mind-uploading, is imminent. In this essential and clarifying volume, Stefan Lorenz Sorgner debunks widespread myths about transhumanism and tackles the most pressing ethical issues in the debate over technologically assisted human enhancement. On Transhumanism is a vital primer on the subject, written by a world-renowned expert. In this book, Sorgner presents an overview of the movement’s history, capably summarizing the twelve pillars of transhumanist discourse and explaining the great diversity of transhumanist responses to each individual topic. He highlights the urgent ethical challenges related to the latest technological developments, inventions, and innovations and compares the unique cultural standing of transhumanism to other cultural movements, placing it within the broader context of the Enlightenment, modernity, postmodernity, and the philosophical writings of Nietzsche. Engagingly written and translated and featuring an introduction for North American readers, this comprehensive overview of the cultural and philosophical movement of transhumanism will be required reading for students of posthumanist philosophy and for general audiences interested in learning about the transhumanist movement.

Author : Stefan Lorenz Sorgner
Publisher : Penn State University Press
Page : 160 pages
File Size : 40,6 Mb
Release : 2022-03-15
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 0271087935

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On Transhumanism by Stefan Lorenz Sorgner Pdf

Examines widespread myths about transhumanism and explores the most pressing ethical issues in the debate over technologically assisted human enhancement.

Author : Gregory R. Hansell
Publisher : Xlibris Corporation
Page : 128 pages
File Size : 50,7 Mb
Release : 2011-01-25
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781456815677

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H+/- by Gregory R. Hansell Pdf

Author : Wolfgang Hofkirchner,Hans-Jörg Kreowski
Publisher : Springer Nature
Page : 248 pages
File Size : 49,8 Mb
Release : 2020-12-12
Category : Computers
ISBN : 9783030565466

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Transhumanism: The Proper Guide to a Posthuman Condition or a Dangerous Idea? by Wolfgang Hofkirchner,Hans-Jörg Kreowski Pdf

This book examines the contributions of the transhumanism approach to technology, in particular the contributed chapters are wary of the implications of this popular idea. The volume is organized into four parts concerning philosophical, military, technological and sociological aspects of transhumanism, but the reader is free to choose various reading patterns. Topics discussed include gene editing, the singularity, ethical machines, metaphors in AI, mind uploading, and the philosophy of art, and some perspectives taken or discussed examine transhumanism within the context of the philosophy of technology, transhumanism as a derailed anthropology, and critical sociological aspects that consider transhumanism in the context of topical concerns such as whiteness, maleness, and masculinity. The book will be of value to researchers engaged with artificial intelligence, and the ethical, societal, and philosophical impacts of science and technology.

Author : Emma Tumilty,Michele Battle-Fisher
Publisher : Springer Nature
Page : 245 pages
File Size : 44,9 Mb
Release : 2022-09-29
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9783031143281

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Transhumanism: Entering an Era of Bodyhacking and Radical Human Modification by Emma Tumilty,Michele Battle-Fisher Pdf

This book surveys the distinctions that underlie the unbound potential and existential risks of life expansion and radical modifications posed by a transhuman world. Humanness is in flux as human bodies are being hacked and altered in their quest for super wellness, super intelligence and super longevity. Now is the time to discuss how best to think about dealing with bodies that have been hacked to exceed natural physical limits or more technically, species typical functioning. Enter the advent of transhumanism to take uncertainty by the horns. According to transhumanists, death is unnecessary and medical conventions undermine the possibility to radically evolve. To biohackers, there is no need to wait to explore the risks that conventional medicine dares not. This book is of interest to anyone interested in tapping into this growing movement of modifying the human body as it is right now.

Author : Francesco Paolo Adorno
Publisher : Springer Nature
Page : 237 pages
File Size : 55,9 Mb
Release : 2021-11-02
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9783030824235

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The Transhumanist Movement by Francesco Paolo Adorno Pdf

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.

Author : Melvin G. Hill
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
Page : 236 pages
File Size : 47,7 Mb
Release : 2019-08-02
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781498583817

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Black Bodies and Transhuman Realities by Melvin G. Hill Pdf

This collection explores the Black body in the context of transhuman realities from a variety of literary and artistic perspectives. Contributing to broader thought about Black transcendence of subjectivity in a posthuman framework, the chapters explore interpretations of the “old” and visions of the “new” human.

Author : Ehler Voss
Publisher : Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Page : 668 pages
File Size : 42,8 Mb
Release : 2020-09-21
Category : History
ISBN : 9783110416411

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Mediality on Trial by Ehler Voss Pdf

This volume addresses controversies connected to the testing of the capacities and potentials of mediums. Today we commonly associate the term "medium" with the technical communication between transmitters and receivers. Yet this term likewise applies to those who cooperate with agencies that exceed the presumed domain of the material world. Insofar as one presumes a division between distinctly opposed categories of religion and the secular, technical media tend to be associated with the secular and human (trance) mediums tend to be associated with religion after 1900. This volume concerns the ways in which the term medium still marks an overlapping of – and thus problematizes – the aforementioned division between religion and the secular, the personal and the technological. The term medium carries with it a seed of doubt that is itself inseparable from investment in the medium's power: insofar as they communicate with an "other" realm, mediums offer the hope and promise of new possibilities and improved efficiency, and thus of a better life; yet they have simultaneously been under suspicion of altering (or even inventing) the messages they communicate. It is due to this combination of promise and suspicion that "mediumism" has tended to evoke scientific, religious, and moral controversies. Thus, we can speak of a "mediumistic trial" – that is, a process in which a medium is put to the test concerning its potentials and trustworthiness. Around 1800, experts were asked if a modern secular institution would be capable of inspiring, domesticating or excluding trance mediumship. This question has stayed with us ever since, and the answers have remained inconclusive. That is why the past and present of mediumship may be asked to elucidate each other.

Author : Ray Kurzweil
Publisher : Penguin
Page : 672 pages
File Size : 48,9 Mb
Release : 2005-09-22
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781101218884

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The Singularity Is Near by Ray Kurzweil Pdf

“Startling in scope and bravado.” —Janet Maslin, The New York Times “Artfully envisions a breathtakingly better world.” —Los Angeles Times “Elaborate, smart and persuasive.” —The Boston Globe “A pleasure to read.” —The Wall Street Journal One of CBS News’s Best Fall Books of 2005 • Among St Louis Post-Dispatch’s Best Nonfiction Books of 2005 • One of Amazon.com’s Best Science Books of 2005 A radical and optimistic view of the future course of human development from the bestselling author of How to Create a Mind and The Singularity is Nearer who Bill Gates calls “the best person I know at predicting the future of artificial intelligence” For over three decades, Ray Kurzweil has been one of the most respected and provocative advocates of the role of technology in our future. In his classic The Age of Spiritual Machines, he argued that computers would soon rival the full range of human intelligence at its best. Now he examines the next step in this inexorable evolutionary process: the union of human and machine, in which the knowledge and skills embedded in our brains will be combined with the vastly greater capacity, speed, and knowledge-sharing ability of our creations.

Author : Adrienne Mayor
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 294 pages
File Size : 47,7 Mb
Release : 2020-04-21
Category : History
ISBN : 9780691202266

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Gods and Robots by Adrienne Mayor Pdf

Traces the story of how ancient cultures envisioned artificial life, automata, self-moving devices and human enhancements, sharing insights into how the mythologies of the past related to and shaped ancient machine innovations.

Author : Michael Hauskeller,Curtis D. Carbonell,Thomas D. Philbeck
Publisher : Springer
Page : 450 pages
File Size : 48,8 Mb
Release : 2016-01-13
Category : Performing Arts
ISBN : 9781137430328

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The Palgrave Handbook of Posthumanism in Film and Television by Michael Hauskeller,Curtis D. Carbonell,Thomas D. Philbeck Pdf

What does popular culture's relationship with cyborgs, robots, vampires and zombies tell us about being human? Insightful scholarly perspectives shine a light on how film and television evince and portray the philosophical roots, the social ramifications and the future visions of a posthumanist world.

Author : William H. U. Anderson
Publisher : Vernon Press
Page : 350 pages
File Size : 50,8 Mb
Release : 2021-01-05
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781648890864

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Technology and Theology by William H. U. Anderson Pdf

Technology is growing at an exponential rate vis-à-vis humanity’s ability to control it. Moreover, the numerous ethical issues that technology raises are also troubling. These statements, however, may be alarmist—since Telus would tell us “The Future is Friendly”. The Modernist vision of the future was utopic, for instance Star Trek of the 1960s. But postmodern views, such as are found in Blade Runner 2049, are dystopic. Theology is in a unique interdisciplinary position to deal with the many issues, pro and con, that technology raises. Even theologians like Origen in the third century and Aquinas in the thirteenth century made forays into Artificial Intelligence and surrounding issues (they just didn’t know it at the time). Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Transhumanism raise questions about what it means to be human. What is consciousness? What is soul? What are life and death? Can technology really save us and give us eternal life? Theology is in a unique position to handle these questions and issues. This book also has practical applications in terms of ecclesiology (church) in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic—both in terms of what it means to be a church and in terms of the sacraments or ordinances. Is there such a thing as a “Virtual Church” or must we gather physically to constitute one? Are Baptism and Communion legitimate if one is not physically in a church building but are “online”? This book struggles with these and many other questions which will help the scholar or reader make up their own minds, however tentatively.