The Transhumanist Reader

Classical and Contemporary Essays on the Science, Technology, and Philosophy of the Human Future

Max More, Natasha Vita-More, Max More, Natasha Vita-More

• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781118555996
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Ethics in Medicine

The first authoritative and comprehensive survey of the origins and current state of transhumanist thinking

The rapid pace of emerging technologies is playing an increasingly important role in overcoming fundamental human limitations. Featuring core writings by seminal thinkers in the speculative possibilities of the posthuman condition, essays address key philosophical arguments for and against human enhancement, explore the inevitability of life extension, and consider possible solutions to the growing issues of social and ethical implications and concerns. Edited by the internationally acclaimed founders of the philosophy and social movement of transhumanism, The Transhumanist Reader is an indispensable guide to our current state of knowledge of the quest to expand the frontiers of human nature.

Part I

Roots and Core Themes

Transhumanism developed as a philosophy that became a cultural movement, and now is regarded as a growing field of study. It is often confused with, compared to, and even equated with posthumanism. Transhumanism arrived during what is often referred to as the postmodernist era, although it has only a modest overlap with postmodernism. Ironically, transhumanism shares some postmodernist values, such as a need for change, reevaluating knowledge, recognition of multiple identities, and opposition to sharp classifications of what humans and humanity ought to be. Nevertheless, transhumanism does not throw out the entirety of the past because of a few mistaken ideas. Humanism and scientific knowledge have proven their quality and value. In this way, transhumanism seeks a transmodernity or hypermodernism rather than arguing explicitly against modernism. One aspect of transhumanism that we hope to explore and elucidate throughout this book is the need for inclusivity, plurality, and continuous questioning of our knowledge, as we are a species and a society that is forever changing. The roots and core themes of transhumanism address some of the underlying themes that have formed its philosophical outlook.

The first section of the book presents a definitive overview of transhumanism. Transhumanism is a class of philosophies that seeks the continued evolution of human life beyond its current human form as a result of science and technology guided by life-promoting principles and ­values. Transhumanism promotes an interdisciplinary approach to understanding and evaluating the opportunities for enhancing the human condition and the human organism opened up by the advancement of technology.

To begin this section, philosopher Max More sets forth the core values, goals, and principles shared by transhumanists and outlines commonly shared epistemological and metaphysical views, while noting the various distinct schools of transhumanist thought. More provides a briefing on the historical roots of the philosophy from the ancients through to the twentieth-century precursors, explains transhumanism’s relationship to humanism and to other concepts including extropy and the technological singularity, and then outlines contemporary variations. He concludes by identifying several misconceptions about transhumanism.

Although the philosophical, scientific, technological, and even political aspects of transhumanism have received much attention over the past decades, the aesthetic aspects have often been treated as secondary, especially to technology. Natasha Vita-More fills that gap. Vita-More explores the artistic, design-based approaches to the classical human form stemming from the Renaissance and on to the cyborg and the transhuman and asks: “What might be concerns of artistic works and design-based practices that approach human enhancement and life extension?”

In his essay “Why I Want to be a Posthuman When I Grow Up,” philosopher Nick Bostrom notes that extreme human enhancement could result in “posthuman” modes of being. Being posthuman would mean possessing a general central capacity (healthspan, cognition, or emotion) greatly exceeding the maximum attainable by any current human being. Bostrom argues that some possible posthuman modes of being would be very good, and that it could be very good for us to become posthuman.

The Transhumanist Declaration sets forth values and practical goals for transhumanism and the many organizations and scholarly research associated with transhumanism that largely evolved out of the seminal work of Extropy Institute, an educational non-profit organization and, more recently, Humanity+. The Declaration was co-authored by a collection of trans­humanists with diverse backgrounds.

Part I concludes with an essay by Anders Sandberg arguing that we have sound reasons to affirm a right to morphological freedom. A right to freedom and the right to one’s own body implies that one has a right to modify one’s body. Morphological freedom is a negative right – it is the right to be able to do certain things without interference but it does not create any claim on others to support one’s exercise of that right. Sandberg argues that we want morphological freedom because of an ancient drive for self-creation through self-definition. We need morphological freedom because not accepting it as a basic right would have negative effects. Sandberg concludes by briefly considering some implications for the future of healthcare.

1

The Philosophy of Transhumanism

Max More

I. The Philosophy

To write of “the” philosophy of transhumanism is a little daring. The growth of transhumanism as a movement and philosophy means that differing perspectives on it have formed. Despite all the varieties and interpretations we can still identify some central themes, values, and interests that give transhumanism its distinct identity. This coherence is reflected in the large degree of agreement between definitions of the philosophy from multiple sources.

According to my early definition (More 1990), the term refers to:

Philosophies of life (such as extropian perspectives) that seek the continuation and acceleration of the evolution of intelligent life beyond its currently human form and human limitations by means of science and technology, guided by life-promoting principles and values.

According to the Transhumanist FAQ (Various 2003), transhumanism is:

The intellectual and cultural movement that affirms the possibility and desirability of fundamentally improving the human condition through applied reason, especially by developing and making widely available technologies to eliminate aging and to greatly enhance human intellectual, physical, and psychological capacities.

A corollary definition (also from the FAQ) focuses on the activity rather than the content of transhumanism:

The study of the ramifications, promises, and potential dangers of technologies that will enable us to overcome fundamental human limitations, and the related study of the ethical matters involved in developing and using such technologies.

Thus transhumanism is a life philosophy, an intellectual and cultural movement, and an area of study. In referring to it as a life philosophy, the 1990 definition places transhumanism in the company of complex worldviews such as secular humanism and Confucianism that have ­practical implications for our lives without basing themselves on any supernatural or physically transcendent belief. Transhumanism could be described by the term “eupraxsophy,” coined by secular humanist Paul Kurtz, as a type of nonreligious philosophy of life that rejects faith, ­worship, and the supernatural, instead emphasizing a meaningful and ethical approach to living informed by reason, science, progress, and the value of existence in our current life.

What is the core content of this philosophy? A simple yet helpful way to grasp its nature is to think of transhumanism as “trans-humanism” plus “transhuman-ism.” “Trans-humanism” emphasizes the philosophy’s roots in Enlightenment humanism. From here comes the emphasis on progress (its possibility and desirability, not its inevitability), on taking personal charge of creating better futures rather than hoping or praying for them to be brought about by supernatural forces, on reason, technology, scientific method, and human creativity rather than faith.

While firmly committed to improving the human condition and generally optimistic about our prospects for doing so, transhumanism does not entail any belief in the inevitability of progress nor in a future free of dangers and downsides. The same powerful technologies that can transform human nature for the better could also be used in ways that, intentionally or unintentionally, cause direct damage or more subtly undermine our lives. The transhumanist concern with rationality and its concomitant acknowledgment of uncertainty implies recognizing and proactively warding off risks and minimizing costs.

“Trans-human” emphasizes the way transhumanism goes well beyond humanism in both means and ends. Humanism tends to rely exclusively on educational and cultural refinement to improve human nature whereas transhumanists want to apply technology to overcome limits imposed by our biological and genetic heritage. Transhumanists regard human nature not as an end in itself, not as perfect, and not as having any claim on our allegiance. Rather, it is just one point along an evolutionary pathway and we can learn to reshape our own nature in ways we deem desirable and valuable. By thoughtfully, carefully, and yet boldly applying technology to ourselves, we can become something no longer accurately described as human – we can become posthuman.

Becoming posthuman means exceeding the limitations that define the less desirable aspects of the “human condition.” Posthuman beings would no longer suffer from disease, aging, and inevitable death (but they are likely to face other challenges). They would have vastly greater physical capability and freedom of form – often referred to as “morphological freedom” (More 1993; Sandberg 2001). Posthumans would also have much greater cognitive capabilities, and more refined emotions (more joy, less anger, or whatever changes each individual prefers). Transhumanists typically look to expand the range of possible future environments for post­human life, including space colonization and the creation of rich virtual worlds. When transhumanists refer to “technology” as the primary means of effecting changes to the human condition, this should be understood broadly to include the design of organizations, economies, polities, and the use of psychological methods and tools.

As a philosophy, transhumanism does not intrinsically commend specific technologies. Even so, certain technologies and areas of current and projected future technological development clearly are especially relevant to transhumanist goals. These include information technology, computer science and engineering, cognitive science and the neurosciences, neural-computer interface research, materials science, artificial intelligence, the array of sciences and technologies involved in regenerative medicine and life extension, genetic engineering, and nanotechnology. A genuine understanding of the goals and potentials of transhumanism requires taking an ­interdisciplinary view, integrating the physical and social sciences.

The first fully developed transhumanist philosophy was defined by the Principles of Extropy, the first version of which was published in 1990. The concept of “extropy” was used to encapsulate the core values and goals of transhumanism. Intended not as a technical term opposed to entropy but instead as a metaphor, extropy was defined as “the extent of a living or organizational system’s intelligence, functional order, vitality, and capacity and drive for improvement.”

The Principles were formulated to “use current scientific understanding along with critical and creative thinking to define a small set of principles or values that could help make sense of the confusing but potentially liberating and existentially enriching capabilities opening up to humanity” (More 2003). The goal was not to specify particular beliefs, technologies, or policies. The Principles of Extropy consist of a handful of principles (or values or perspectives) that ­codify proactive, life-affirming, and life-promoting ideals supportive of transhumanism.

Although the Principles of Extropy define a specific form of transhumanism, that document is both the first comprehensive and explicit statement of transhumanism and embodies several crucial elements shared by all extant forms of transhumanism. The 2003 (and still current) ­version included the principles of perpetual progress, self-transformation, practical optimism, intelligent technology, open society, self-direction, and rational thinking.

Perpetual progress is a strong statement of the transhumanist commitment to seek “more intelligence, wisdom, and effectiveness, an open-ended lifespan, and the removal of political, cultural, biological, and psychological limits to continuing development. Perpetually overcoming constraints on our progress and possibilities as individuals, as organizations, and as a ­species. Growing in healthy directions without bound.” The individual element of this is expressed in the principle of self-transformation, which means “affirming continual ethical, intellectual, and physical self-improvement, through critical and creative thinking, perpetual learning, personal responsibility, proactivity, and experimentation. Using technology – in the widest sense to seek physiological and neurological augmentation along with emotional and psychological refinement.” Both of these principles clearly express the implementation of transhumanism as being a continual process and not about seeking a state of perfection.

All transhumanists to date would likely also have no disagreement with the principles of ­intelligent technology, self-direction, or rational thinking. Intelligent Technology “means designing and managing technologies not as ends in themselves but as effective means for improving life. Applying science and technology creatively and courageously to transcend ­‘natural’ but harmful, confining qualities derived from our biological heritage, culture, and environment.” Self-direction means “valuing independent thinking, individual freedom, personal responsibility, self-direction, self-respect, and a parallel respect for others.” And rational ­thinking means “favoring reason over blind faith and questioning over dogma. It means understanding, experimenting, learning, challenging, and innovating rather than clinging to beliefs.”

An emphasis on “transhuman-ism” at the expense of “trans-humanism” might lead some transhumanists to reject the principle of open society, although so far it remains highly ­compatible with the vast majority of transhumanist views. That principle recommends ^­“supporting social orders that foster freedom of communication, freedom of action, experimentation, innovation, questioning, and learning. Opposing authoritarian social control an...