Transhumanism

Transhumanism is a philosophical and intellectual movement that advocates the enhancement of the human condition by developing and making widely available new and future technologies that can greatly enhance longevity, cognition, and well-being.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Transhumanist thinkers study the potential benefits and dangers of emerging technologies that could overcome fundamental human limitations, as well as the ethics of using such technologies.^[4] Some transhumanists speculate that human beings may eventually be able to transform themselves into beings of such vastly greater abilities as to merit the label of posthuman beings.^[2]

Another topic of transhumanist research is how to protect humanity against existential risks from artificial general intelligence, asteroid impact, gray goo, high-energy particle collision experiments, natural or synthetic pandemic, and nuclear warfare.^[5]

The biologist Julian Huxley popularised the term "transhumanism" in a 1957 essay.^[6] The contemporary meaning of the term was foreshadowed by one of the first professors of futurology, a man who changed his name to FM-2030. In the 1960s, he taught "new concepts of the human" at The New School when he began to identify people who adopt technologies, lifestyles, and worldviews "transitional" to posthumanity as "transhuman".^[7] The assertion laid the intellectual groundwork for the British philosopher Max More to begin articulating the principles of transhumanism as a futurist philosophy in 1990, organizing in California a school of thought that has since grown into the worldwide transhumanist movement.^[7]^[8]^[9]

Influenced by seminal works of science fiction, the transhumanist vision of a transformed future humanity has attracted many supporters and detractors from a wide range of perspectives, including philosophy and religion.^[7]

In 2017, Penn State University Press, in cooperation with philosopher Stefan Lorenz Sorgner and sociologist James Hughes, established the Journal of Posthuman Studies^[10] as the first academic journal explicitly dedicated to the posthuman, with the goal of clarifying the notions of posthumanism and transhumanism, as well as comparing and contrasting both.

^ Mercer, Calvin; Throten, Tracy J., eds. (2015). Religion and Transhumanism: The Unknown Future of Human Enhancement. Praeger. ISBN 978-1-4408-3325-0.
^ ^a ^b Bostrom, Nick (2005). "A history of transhumanist thought" (PDF). Journal of Evolution and Technology. 14 (1): 1–25. Retrieved February 21, 2006.
^ Hopkins, P. D. (2012). "Transhumanism". Encyclopedia of Applied Ethics (Second Edition): 414–422. doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-373932-2.00243-X. ISBN 978-0-12-373932-2.
^ "We May Look Crazy to Them, But They Look Like Zombies to Us: Transhumanism as a Political Challenge". Archived from the original on November 6, 2016. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
^ Schuster, Joshua; Woods, Derek (2021). Calamity Theory: Three Critiques of Existential Risk. University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 9781517912918.
^ Cite error: The named reference Huxley 1957 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ ^a ^b ^c Cite error: The named reference Hughes 2004 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference Gelles 2009 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Google Ngram Viewer. Retrieved April 25, 2013.
^ "Journal of Posthuman Studies: Philosophy, Technology, Media".

[Mercer-1] Mercer, Calvin; Throten, Tracy J., eds. (2015). Religion and Transhumanism: The Unknown Future of Human Enhancement. Praeger. ISBN 978-1-4408-3325-0.

[Bostrom_2005-2] Bostrom, Nick (2005). "A history of transhumanist thought" (PDF). Journal of Evolution and Technology. 14 (1): 1–25. Retrieved February 21, 2006.

[3] Hopkins, P. D. (2012). "Transhumanism". Encyclopedia of Applied Ethics (Second Edition): 414–422. doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-373932-2.00243-X. ISBN 978-0-12-373932-2.

[4] "We May Look Crazy to Them, But They Look Like Zombies to Us: Transhumanism as a Political Challenge". Archived from the original on November 6, 2016. Retrieved January 25, 2016.

[Schuster_and_Woods_2021-5] Schuster, Joshua; Woods, Derek (2021). Calamity Theory: Three Critiques of Existential Risk. University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 9781517912918.

[Huxley_1957-6] Cite error: The named reference Huxley 1957 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Hughes_2004-7] Cite error: The named reference Hughes 2004 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Gelles_2009-8] Cite error: The named reference Gelles 2009 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[9] Google Ngram Viewer. Retrieved April 25, 2013.

[10] "Journal of Posthuman Studies: Philosophy, Technology, Media".

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