Trans-/Posthumanism and the Ethics of Protecting People: Between Possibility and Responsibility
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12775/SPI.2022.3.001Keywords
transhumanism,, posthumanism, ethics of protecting people, biotechnological modifications, ethics based on ontologyAbstract
The following article addresses anthropology and ethics in the context of bestowing biological and technological modifications on the human being.
The starting point of the discussion are the terms transhuman and posthuman and the ethics based on the concept of a person as a human being. The author investigates the question of whether the notion of a human being which we uphold allows for a person to be constructed and manipulated within certain boundaries. The author also proposes that transhumanism – especially posthumanism (due to ontology) – breaks with the classical definition of a human being and rejects the ethics of protecting people. In its place, trans-/posthumanism applies situational and utilitarian ethics. From the point of view of the ethics of protecting people, any qualitative changes are unacceptable (particularly considering the formal cause of a human being). What can be accepted are quantitative changes (regarding the material cause of a human being), on the condition that they protect individuals and their interpersonal relationships.
References
Bakke M. (2010). “Posthumanizm: człowiek w świecie większym niż ludzki,” in J. Sokolski (ed.), Człowiek wobec natury – humanizm wobec nauk przyrodniczych, Warszawa: Neriton, pp. 337–357.
Białek J. (2017). Tech. Krytyka rozwoju środowiska technologicznego, Warszawa: Garda.
Bostrom N. (2003). The Transhumanist FAQ. Version 2.1, Oxford: Oxford University. Faculty of Philosophy, https://nickbostrom.com/views/transhumanist.pdf [access: 14.02.2019].
Dabrock P. (2009). “Playing God? Synthetic Biology as a Theological and Ethical Challenge,” Systems and Synthetic Biology, vol. 3, pp. 47–54. DOI: 10.1007/s11693-009-9028-5.
Delsol Ch. (2017). Nienawiść do świata. Totalitaryzmy i ponowoczesność, trans. M. Chojnacki, Warszawa: Instytut Wydawniczy Pax.
Dworkin R. (2000). Playing God: Genes, Clones, and Luck, in R. Dworkin, Sovereign Virtue: The Theory and Practice of Equality, Cambridge (MA): Harvard University Press, pp. 427−452.
Fukuyama F. (2004). Koniec człowieka. Konsekwencje rewolucji biotechnologicznej, trans. B. Pietrzyk, Kraków: Znak.
Gogacz M. (1991). Ku etyce chronienia osób. Wokół podstaw etyki, Warszawa: Pallottinum.
Gogacz M. (1997). Osoba zadaniem pedagogiki. Wykłady bydgoskie, Warszawa: Oficyna Wydawnicza „Navo”.
Gogacz M. (1998). Wprowadzenie do etyki chronienia osób, Warszawa: Oficyna Wydawnicza „Navo”.
Habermas J. (2003). Przyszłość natury ludzkiej. Czy zmierzamy do eugeniki liberalnej?, trans. M. Łukasiewicz, Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe „Scholar”.
Halapsis A.V. (2019). “Gods of Transhumanism,” Anthropological Measurements of Philosophical Research, no. 16, pp. 78–90. DOI: 10.15802/ampr.v0i16.188397.
Harari Y.N. (2015). Sapiens: From Animals to Gods, New York: Harper Collins.
Harari Y.N. (2017). Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, New York: Harper Collins.
Heidegger M. (1976). Brief über den Humanismus, in M. Heidegger, Gesamtausgabe, vol. 9: Wegmarken, Frankfurt am Main: Vittorio Klostermann.
Heidegger M. (1995). List o humanizmie, trans. J. Tischner, in M. Heidegger, Znaki drogi, trans. S. Blandzi et al., Warszawa: Aletheia, pp. 129–168.
Hołub G., Duchliński P. (2018). “Introduction: Between Transhumanism and Bioconservatism,” in G. Hołub, P. Duchliński (eds.), Ulepszanie człowieka. Perspektywa filozoficzna, Kraków: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Akademii Ignatianum w Krakowie, pp. 21–29.
Huxley J. (1957). New Bottles for New Wine, London: Chatto & Windus.
Kowalski E. (2004), “Osoba i bioetyka: jaka koncepcja człowieka i życia ludzkiego w bioetyce?” Studia Ecologiae et Bioethicae, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 219–241.
Kurzweil R. (2005). The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology, New York: Penguin Books.
Lindenberg G. (2018). Ludzkość poprawiona. Jak najbliższe lata zmienią świat, w którym żyjemy, Kraków: Wydawnictwo Otwarte.
Magdici A. (2015). “The Person, a Meaningful Notion in Bioethics: A Philosophical and Theological Approach,” Studia Universitatis Babeş-Bolyai. Bioethica, vol. 60, no. 2, pp. 45–62.
More M. (1990). “Transhumanism: Toward a Futurist Philosophy,” https://www.ildodopensiero.it/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/max-more-transhumanism-toward-a-futurist-philosophy.pdf [access: 14.02.2019].
More M. (1999). “A Letter to Mother Nature: Amendments to the Human Constitution,” http://strategicphilosophy.blogspot.com/2009/05/its-about-ten-years-since-i-wrote.html [access: 27.01.2019].
Osiński G. (2018). Transhumanizm. Retiarius contra Secutor, Toruń: Wydawnictwo Akademii Kultury Społecznej i Medialnej.
Possenti V. (2017). Osoba nową zasadą, trans. J. Merecki, Lublin: Polskie Towarzystwo Świętego Tomasza z Akwinu.
Sloterdijk P. (2008). “Reguły dla ludzkiego zwierzyńca. Odpowiedź na Heideggera list o humanizmie,” trans. A. Żychliński, Przegląd Kulturoznawczy, vol. 1, no. 4, pp. 56.
Sowell T. (2007). A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles, New York: Basic Books.
Szutta N. (2016). “‘Nowy wspaniały świat’ i transhumanizm,” Filozofuj!, no. 4, pp. 33–34.
Szymański K. (2015). “Transhumanizm,” Kultura i Wartości, no. 13, pp. 133–152.
Young S. (2006). Designer Evolution: A Transhumanist Manifesto, Amherst (NY): Prometheus Books.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2021 Sławomir Chrost
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
By submitting an article, the author declares that:
they are the author of the article (hereinafter referred to as the Work) and:
- is entitled to exclusive and unlimited copyright to the Work,
- is entitled to dispose of the copyrights to the Work.
The Author grants the Jesuit University Ignatianum in Cracow a free, non-exclusive, territorially unlimited license to use the Work in the following fields of exploitation:
- publishing the Work in paper, digital or magnetic form;
- multiplying the work by any method, without limiting the number of editions or copies;
- distribution of the work and its copies in any form, including marketing, sales, lending, and lease;
- placing the work in a computer memory;
- distribution of the work in information networks, including the Internet;
- public performance, exhibition, display, reproduction, broadcasting and re-broadcasting, as well as making the Work available to the public in such a manner that everyone could have access to it at a time and place chosen by themselves;
- within the scope of dependent rights to the Work, covering, in particular, the right to make necessary changes to the Work, resulting from editorial and methodical preparation, as well as to make translations of the Work into other languages.
The license right shall be transferred the moment of transfer of the Work to the Jesuit University Ignatianum in Cracow. The Jesuit University Ignatianum in Cracow is entitled to grant sub-licenses to the Work in terms of the right granted. The license shall be limited in time for a period of 15 years from the date it is granted.
Stats
Number of views and downloads: 964
Number of citations: 0
