Who Wants to Live Forever? Introduction to Transhumanism
Transhumanism developed as a philosophy that became a cultural movement and is now regarded as a growing field of study. It is a complex mix of philosophical anthropology and philosophy of technology that brings together diverse problems from various fields such as philosophy, social sciences, cultural studies, neuroscience, information science, biomedical science, molecular biology and artificial intelligence. Transhumanism aims at modifying and upgrading human beings through technology claiming that biological evolution is incomplete and without direction. Although it adopts elements of humanism such as rationality, self-knowledge, self-care, autonomy and self-creation it does so with reference to the ideal of the creation of a new human species. The aim of the seminar is to provide an overview of transhumanism by examining a) its historical roots, core values, goals and principles and b) its moral, political and aesthetic aspects.