In the transmodern context, transhumanism appears as a new paradigm, with a centripetal tendency, which proposes the reinventing of man by overcoming the current biological limitations with the help of new technologies, so called human amelioration. In our work, we want to discuss in a speculative manner the possibility of the existence of the posthuman individual in the biological and moral (self) transcendence of the self. We will discuss a series of technologies capable of irreversibly modifying the human condition by placing humanity first in a transhuman or posthuman condition: technologies of virtualization of the social space that allow the transcendence of the spatial limitation of the human condition as a localized being within the finite limits, by opening up to communication and beingness in a non-topological space, the possibility of downloading the consciousness into electronic storage media, which would allow it to be in a non-biological space, that is, independent of its own corporeality and the supposed technologies of indefinite extension of life, which removes the human being from the the physical horizon of temporality and finitude. In defining the boundaries of the human condition, we have appealed to the work of the philosopher Abhinavagupta (975-1025), who was one of the greatest philosophers, aestheticians and mystics of the Shia school of Kashmir. The revaluation of the Kashmiri philosophy in the postmodern context allows us to rethink the human being's boundaries, whose overcoming allows for a transcendence of the human condition. The boundaries identified based on the work of the Kashmirian philosopher are: limitation in temporality, limitation in the capacity for knowledge, limitation in fullness (limitation in scopespatiality), limitation in causality, limitation in creative power. The overcoming of these ontological boundaries leads, in our opinion, to the emergence of an anthropological singularity, a concept built after the technological singularity, and implicitly of physical singularity.
Abstract:The development of techniques and technologies nowadays offers multiple options on how we wish to live our lives, to improve the unwanted aspects of our bodies, to edit our genes in order for our offspring to be more resistant to diseases or to prolongue our lives by loading our consciousness into a digital device. The new technologies and the emergence of the Internet changed the way in which the individual relates with the others. The access to information is much easier, and this aspect led to a change in the individual's behaviour, the family also suffering transformations. For example, the social networks and the dating websites offer the individual the possibility to choose a partner based on characteristics such as the zodiac sign, hair or eye color, preferences, etc. In our paper we wish to analyse the transformations that might take place in the family considering the new scientific discoveries in reproduction in the transhumanist context. One of the scenarios who sparked controversies is the fact that due to the new medical technologies, there might be possible to create individuals from cells harvested from two persons of the same sex, but also to create embryos from the cells of the same person (solo-reproduction) (Cutaș, Smajor, 2016). Aside from the bioethics and moral implications this type of actions involves, we wish to bring to the fore the principle of responsibility towards the human nonpresence or the non-human presence, while the creation of improved individuals or the possibility of having children created from the cells of a single individual are aspects that raise multiple questions referring to the way in which conception has evolved. Besides the fact that the new technologies make it possible to conceive children from one single person, the sexual relationships have reached a whole new dimension too: futurologists support the idea according to which in the next years, sex with robots will be possible and affordable, therefore there will be no more need for a human partner in order to fulfil one's sexual needs. Thus, in order to procreate, an individual will no longer be necessary, and in order to fulfil the sexual needs, the partner could be a robot imitating the sexual partner's behaviour. In our paper, we will analyse the way in which the family has evolved, so we will bring into discussion the traditional perspective and the current tendencies given by the new technologies.
Abstract:The responsibility towards oneself and towards each other was analysed by philosophers such as Heidegger, Jonas, etc., and is based on care. If Heidegger brings forward the concept of caring for each other, Jonas believes that the prospective ethics based on responsibility should guide the behaviour of present individuals for the future generation. In the context of new technologies in genetic engineering, molecular biology and genetic editing, we consider it appropriate to bring into discussion that a new form of Kant's categorical imperative is needed to guide the behaviour of all, to ensure the welfare planet-wide, not only for the human generations to come, but also of the non-human generations.Keywords: Transhumanism; human and non-human species; prospective ethics; the principle of responsibility to the lack of human presence and to non-human presence; the other.
With the development of new technologies, more and more issues have arisen the legal framework and ethics must respond to. From an ethical perspective, codes of ethics have been formulated that prohibit the use of new technologies in order to create hybrid individuals or to create human clones of people who exist or have existed. In terms of international law, we will highlight a few countries that have laws and articles of law that are of interest for this work, but we will also highlight the importance of observing the human rights.
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