“The Democratic Cyborg Project” of James Hughes

Abstract

James Hughes, American sociologist and bioethicist, a founder of the movement of democratic transhumanism and Director of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies (IEET), is also a developer of a special original project which presupposes techno-optimism as its methodological foundation, more critical and pro-state approach to radical technologies (in contrast to the libertarian transhumanism previously promoted in the Extropian movement) and a strong bias towards attracting religious ideas and methods, especially the pro-Buddhist ones. This explains the interest of the scientist in religious practices and work on the “Cyborg Buddha” project. J. Hughes in his research analyzes American society along ideological axes and tries to combine them within the framework of democratic transhumanism (cyborg democracy). The latter must be approved at the state level and implemented through a special program. However, most of all, in promoting transhumanist ideas and creating a common cultural background, he relies on minority groups: from radical feminism (cyberfeminism), biopunk, supporters of LGBT movements, and to people with disabilities who will “benefit” from the experimental methods and radical transformations. In general, Hughes’ ideas remain quite radical, focus on the creation of a transhuman and a posthuman, and discard the existence of modern type people and their “outdated and too-human” culture in the future.