Humanism and its Discontents

This book explains that while posthumanism rose in opposition to the biblical contention that 'Man was created in the image of God', transhumanism ascertained the complementary view that 'Man has been assigned dominion over all creatures', further exploring a path that had been opened up by the Enlightenment's notion of human perfectibility.

It explains also how posthumanism and transhumanism relate to deconstruction theory, and on a broader level to capitalism, libertarianism, and the fight against human extinction which may involve trespassing the boundary of the skin, achieving individual immortality or dematerialization of the Self and colonisation of distant planets and stars.

Two authors debate about truth and reason in today's world, the notion of personhood and the legacy of the Nietzschean Superhuman in the current varieties of anti-humanism. Paul Jorion, Ph.D. is Associate Professor at the Université Catholique de Lille, France. He trained as an anthropologist, sociologist and psychoanalyst. He taught at Cambridge University, UK, was a UCI Regents Lecturer and a member of the UCLA, USA, Human Complex Systems. He played a pioneering role in AI (British Telecom's Connex project) and in developing financial algorithms.

Auteur

Paul Jorion, Ph.D. is Associate Professor at the Université Catholique de Lille, France. He trained as an anthropologist, sociologist and psychoanalyst. He taught at Cambridge University, UK, was a UCI Regents Lecturer and a member of the UCLA, USA, Human Complex Systems. He played a pioneering role in AI (British Telecom's Connex project) and in developing financial algorithms.

Contenu

Introduction: Humanism and its Discontents - The Rise of Transhumanism and Posthumanism, Paul Jorion

I. Humanism on the wane

Strong Artificial Intelligence and theological anthropology: one problem, two solutions, Marius Dorobantu

II. Complement and supplements

On Prosthetic Existence: what differentiates deconstruction from transhumanism and posthumanism, Susanna Lindberg

III. Boundaries and frontiers

Discourse between Stefan Lorenz Sorgner and Paul Jorion on Nietzsche, Fascism and Moving Beyond Humanism: From Friedrich Nietzsche to Stefan Sorgner: the short path leading from superhumanism to metahumanism, Paul Jorion

Dignity, Personhood, and the Sacred, Stefan Lorenz Sorgner

Truth? Still breathing!, Paul Jorion

Enlightenment, Truths, and the Sciences, Stefan Lorenz Sorgner

When skin and technology intertwine, Hélène Jeannin

IV. The Enlightenment recovered

On Max More's extropianism, Salomé Bour

Transhumanism and Advanced Capitalism: elitist logics and dangerous implications, Alexander Thomas

V. The cunning of Reason

Posthumanism, transhumanism, superhumanism and metahumanism from an adaptive standpoint, Paul Jorion

Ethics and Complexity: Why standard ethical frameworks cannot cope with socio-technological change, Clément Vidal & Francis Heylighen