[ExI] Wiki entry of Critical Theory of Posthumanism

[Darren Greer]

2011/12/4 Stefano Vaj <stefano.vaj at gmail.com> wrote"
>
>
> In other words again: humanism is based on the idea that a universal human
> nature exists that prevents practically or at least ethically any attempt
> to tinker with meanings, which would be given by God or some secularised
> avatar thereof, and could be derived mechanistically without any "random",
> digital choice of their parameters.
>
> All this is very abstract, but, hey, it is still less boring than John
> Stuart Mill... :-)
>


I had a professor once that described the traditional "chain of being" from
God, Archangel, Angel, King, Duke, Knight, etc, etc, and how each one of
them came under attack and was abolished from ideology/theology
and relegated to the dusty attic of mythology as the enlightenment took
hold. Now it seems, and I guess is only natural, that the constructed idea
of 'human' is being so disposed of. Technology, and rightly so, is
responsible and transhumanism is an excellent example of that redefinition
(and one I obviously advocate). It has made us question what it means to
actually be human in the first place. But in researching this topic on the
philosophies of posthumanism, there is one interesting question that keeps
arising, where do liberal human philosophies fit in this posthuman world?
Some branches of philosophical posthumansim advocate a complete denial not
only of collective human identity but individual identity as well. Throw
the baby out with the bathwater, in other words. It is interesting to sit
in as many of these camps as possible and watch the battles take place. It
is a very fun time to be alive.

darren
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