Trans-Human and Post-Human: A Challenge for the Human and Philosophical Sciences

Abstract

This paper describes the concept of scientific knowledge in both modern and post-modern society. It presents a brief analysis of how the value of scientific knowledge is changing in contemporary society and describes future developments linked to the new concept of trans-humanism. The term “post-human” refers to a progressive alteration of human characteristics by means of genetic and electronic manipulation that results in an anthropological mutation, which is a prelude to the advent of a new, and post-human species. The term “trans-human” means more than human, beyond human, transcending the limits of the human condition and aspiring to an almost divine superior meaning. This new modified condition of human beings is defined as post-human and the process of change is described within the cultural framework of humanism. Trans-humanism as a term refers to a philosophical doctrine belonging to the family of contemporary progressive ideologies in which trans-humanist intellectuals analyse and promote technologies aimed at overcoming the limits of human nature. Analyzing the trends, the anthropological implications and the cultural impact of such technologies, this new philosophical/scientific doctrine tends to emphasise the positive aspects of scientific development, but without underestimating the potential dangers arising from the misuse of technology. The open ethical challenge of trans-humanism is twofold: 1) the physical improvement of human beings with reference to the new trans-human concept of human nature; 2) the development of a trans-human being that can fulfil humanity’s dream of escaping the bonds of its condition, acquiring a “cybernetic nature” free from pain and suffering.