This expensive book ($108) is intended to serve a small, but dedicated group
of scholars engaged in research on “transhumanism;” a subject that enjoyed popularity
in the 1980s and 1990s. Transhumanists are optimistic futurists who welcome
recent scientific and technological advancements in: “neuroscience,
neuropharmacology, life-extension, nanotechnology, artificial
ultraintelligence, and space
habitation.” (p.1) Most transhumanists are
also devoted fans of science fiction and/or spiritualism. Philosophers have
long-argued that the very concept of transhumanism is vague or vacuous and that
there has always been (and always will be) both defenders and critics of
present and future technology. Critics of transhumanism argue that unchecked, free-wheeling
scientific and/or technological advancement threatens not only the future of
humanity, but also the future of the entire planet. Therefore, they argue, government
must play a role in controlling that advancement: Keep that genie in the
bottle! For better or worse, this scholarly work is rife with “isms” that are
offered in comparison and contrast to “transhumanism,” including: neoliberalism,
futurism, utopianism, post-humanism, evolutionary utopianism, and xenofeminism.
With 200 pages of scholarly text, it is fully documented with over 600 footnotes,
citing mostly of books and journal articles published in the 1980s and 1990s.
By all measures, this is a book intended for a rather narrow community of
scholars. There is no obvious attempt to recruit new transhumanist scholars, no
appeal to a popular audience, nor is it intended to serve as an undergraduate
or graduate textbook.
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