Posthumanism
Subtitle: a critical analysis
By: Stefan Herbrechter
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Published: 2013
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 239
ISBN-13: 9781780936062; 9781780938370; 9781780936222; 9781780936901
Subjects: Human beings; Technology; Social aspects; Technology in literature
Work titles: Posthumanismus
Description: What does it mean to be human today? The answer to this question, which is as old as the human species itself, is becoming less and less certain. Current technological developments increasingly erode our traditional humanist reflexes: consciousness, emotion, language, intelligence, morality, humour, mortality - all these no longer demonstrate the unique character and value of human existence. Instead, the spectre of the 'posthuman' is now being widely invoked as the 'inevitable' next evolutionary stage that humans are facing. Who comes after the human? This is the question that posthumanists are taking as their starting point. This critical introduction understands posthumanism as a discourse, which, in principle, includes everything that has been and is being said about the figure of the 'posthuman'. It outlines the genealogy of the various posthuman 'scenarios' in circulation and engages with their theoretical and philosophical assumptions and social and political implications.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references ( pages 214-227) and index.
Table of contents: title: Towards a critical posthumanism; title: Genealogy of posthumanism; title: Our posthuman humanity and the multiplicity of its forms; title: Posthumanism and science fiction; title: Interdisciplinarity and the posthumanities; title: Posthumanism, digitalization, and new media; title: Posthumanity, subject, and system; title: Other side of life.