Textbook Ebook Transhumanism As A New Social Movement The Techno Centred Imagination 1St Edition James Michael Macfarlane All Chapter PDF
Textbook Ebook Transhumanism As A New Social Movement The Techno Centred Imagination 1St Edition James Michael Macfarlane All Chapter PDF
Textbook Ebook Transhumanism As A New Social Movement The Techno Centred Imagination 1St Edition James Michael Macfarlane All Chapter PDF
Transhumanism as a
New Social Movement
The Techno-Centred Imagination
James Michael MacFarlane
Palgrave Studies in the Future of Humanity
and its Successors
Series Editors
Calvin Mercer
East Carolina University
Greenville, NC, USA
Steve Fuller
Department of Sociology
University of Warwick
Coventry, UK
Humanity is at a crossroads in its history, precariously poised between
mastery and extinction. The fast-developing array of human enhancement
therapies and technologies (e.g., genetic engineering, information
technology, regenerative medicine, robotics, and nanotechnology) are
increasingly impacting our lives and our future. The most ardent advo-
cates believe that some of these developments could permit humans to
take control of their own evolution and alter human nature and the human
condition in fundamental ways, perhaps to an extent that we arrive at the
“posthuman”, the “successor” of humanity. This series brings together
research from a variety of fields to consider the economic, ethical, legal,
political, psychological, religious, social, and other implications of cutting-
edge science and technology. The series as a whole does not advocate any
particular position on these matters. Rather, it provides a forum for experts
to wrestle with the far-reaching implications of the enhancement tech-
nologies of our day. The time is ripe for forwarding this conversation
among academics, public policy experts, and the general public. For
more information on Palgrave Studies in the Future of Humanity and
its Successors, please contact Phil Getz, Editor, Religion & Philosophy:
phil.getz@palgrave-usa.com.
Transhumanism
as a New Social
Movement
The Techno-Centred Imagination
James Michael MacFarlane
Oxford, UK
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer
Nature Switzerland AG 2020
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the
Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of
translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on
microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval,
electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now
known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are
exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information
in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the
publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect
to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The
publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and
institutional affiliations.
This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature
Switzerland AG.
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
For my parents, whose love, support and encouragement throughout my
education have been without bounds.
Contents
vii
viii Contents
4 Constituents 87
4.1 Demographics: The Presentation of Self in Offline/Online
Spaces 91
4.2 Memetic Travel and Standards: Networked Propagation of
an Idea (l)…… 99
4.3 Affinity: Boundaries, Inclusivity and Social Integration107
4.4 Conclusions115
References116
5 Mobilisations117
5.1 TELOS: Modelling the ‘Objectivisation’ of Human
Enhancement118
5.2 IN POTENTIA: The Possibilities Inscribed Within
Technology124
5.3 VIA: Travelling Through, En Route131
5.4 TECHNE: The Artful ‘Craft’ of Transhumanism136
5.5 Conclusions141
References143
6 Politics145
6.1 ATROPHY: The Disintegration and Inertia of
Contemporary Politics147
6.2 ACTIVISM: Tensions Between Virtual and Embodied
Politicking154
6.3 AUTONOMY: The Individuated Consumer as Self-
Determining Agent162
6.4 Conclusions170
References172
7 Existence175
7.1 ATHEISM: Closed-Individualism and Techno-Secular
Humanism177
7.2 THEISM: The Technology of Post-Secular Community184
7.3 RATIONALISM and FAITH: The Seduction of Promise in
Lieu of Certainty193
7.4 Conclusions200
References201
Contents ix
Index235
CHAPTER 1
In the last decade, scientific and technical advances have led to an unprec-
edented questioning of dominant doctrines concerning the human condi-
tion, yet fledgling social formations organised around this prospective
technological re-negotiation of humanity remain under-researched. While
journalists and other interested commentators operating within the popu-
lar media have offered periodic coverage of such developments, scholarly
attention has been comparatively sparse. This study is intended to redress
this balance. The introductory chapter opens by outlining the back-
ground for the research, tracing a brief chronological history of the novel
social-cultural and philosophical forms currently travelling under the
rubric of ‘Transhumanism’: perhaps the boldest and most unabashed
variant of technological human enhancement advocacy (THEA)
1.2.1
Motivations
This research is timely and contributes to sociological knowledge in ways
that will be of significance for the future study of new social movements
formed around technological human enhancement, and broader subcul-
tures of radical support for techno-science. At present, the transhumanist
movement represents a rich site—inhabiting a unique social space at the
intersection between technology, science, politics and twenty-first-century
media dynamics—which remains under-researched. The key themes
emerging from the study range from questions of self-identity in hyper-
technological societies, post-industrial techno-philia and the networked
mobilisation of non-spatially determined communities of thought. My
chief motivation to produce this study comes from an interest in the highly
persistent techno-utopian—or at least techno-utilitarian—thinking resid-
ual within late-modern cultures, as some continue to believe the ever-
ambitious strategic application of science and technology might be used as
a bootstrap to radically surpass or supplant existing social, political and
economic schema. Over the last quarter-century, transhumanism has then
come to represent an enduring set of techno-optimistic ideas surrounding
the future of humanity, with its advocates seeking to transcend limits of
the body and mind according to an unwavering Enlightenment-derived
faith in science, reason and individual freedom. To the tune of ‘progress’
associated with this period in European history, transhumanists today are
concerned with liberating humans from the present constraints to our
4 J. M. MACFARLANE
narrative around science and technology and politics are developing in the
present day. In effect, this research project has furthered understandings
of ‘new’ twenty-first-century technologically inspired social movements,
and advanced social research into dynamic, non-spatially confined com-
munities of thought. For the sake of clarity, I will now recall the study’s
primary contributions towards contemporary debates.
1.2.2 Key Contributions
So-called new social movement theory (NSMT) developed in the period
since the 1960s has recognised how recent social movement mobilisations
have become increasingly focused on issues of identity and quality of
life. This move corresponds with the current convention for NSMT
scholars to view pull-factors attracting participants towards social move-
ment activity as potentially both rational and strategic, as well as psycho-
logically and emotionally motivated. Simply put, this study works to build
an in-depth, normatively focused and empirically supported account of
transhumanism—which appears to resemble a heavily ‘scientised’ (Hayek
1952; Sorell 1991) twenty-first-century identity movement. To this end,
I use a range of qualitative inputs to build a detailed account of the actors,
framing mechanisms and other intersubjective symbolic motivational
strategies which are evoked to legitimate and ultimately move forward the
scientific-technical schemes associated with technological human enhance-
ment and its advocacy. As such, the study emerges at the apex between
social movement theory and science and technology studies.
From this theoretical starting point, my research was designed to use
embodied participatory observational practices in combination with quali-
tative interviews and survey methods to ‘tell the story’ of transhumanism.
In the first study of its kind, this ethnographically inspired methodological
approach enabled me to combine thick descriptions, vivid imagery cap-
tured at field locations and first-hand accounts offered by human
enhancement-focused technology advocates—to elucidate and give voice
to those involved in the human enhancement scene. In addition to form-
ing a sophisticated understanding of the array of technical prospects and
expectations which sympathetic proponents take to surround technologi-
cal human enhancement, the project has also explored how various social
mobilisations are operationalised and justified by the actors engaged in
such practices. Using descriptive data gathered through interviews and
surveys, I have examined in detail how advocates believe their social
1 THE TRANSHUMAN CONDITION: SCIENCE SLIGHTLY… 9
Title: Aseseppä
Kajastuksia uskonpuhdistuksen ajalta
Language: Finnish
Kirj.
VIKTOR RYDBERG
Suomentanut
K. Koskimies
SISÄLLYS:
HARPUNSOITTAJAN ILTARUKOUS.
— Herra Jumalani! Minä kiitän sinua siitä ilosta, jota niin runsaasti
olet suonut minulle kelvottomalle, sekä murheesta, jonka annat
jokena juosta sieluni läpi. Sen vesi viljavoittaa. Sen vierillä
ijäisyyskukat kasvavat, eikä sydämeni milloinkaan tuntenut ääretöntä
kaipiota ja ääretöntä lohdutusta, ennenkuin sain kuunnella
surukymien hiljaista huokailua.
Minä kiitän sinua siitä, että minä ja poikani olemme niiden isäin
jälkeläisiä, jotka verensä vuotivat ja henkensä heittivät sorrettujen
hyväksi. Anna hänellekin näiden mieltä! Sitä rukoilen hänelle, mutta
en heidän sankarimainettaan, sillä semmoinen on turhaa loistoa.
Suo hänelle onnellisuutta, mutta älä semmoista, joka muiden
kärsimyksiä nähdessään ei tunne häiriintyvänsä! Tee hänestä ennen
Latsarus, jota sinun Kristuksesi rakastaa, kuin rikas mies!
Samaa toivoin minä itselleni, mutta et ole sitä tähän asti sallinut.
Niin annapa minun, kunnes se tapahtuu, käyttää laulun lahjaa
saman asian hyväksi! Minä tunnen sen olevan sinulta ja että se on
enemmäksi aijottu kuin ilomaljain ääressä riemuilemaan tahi
unikukan tuoksulla tuskaa lieventämään, vaikka se tämmöisenäkin
on sinun armosi aarteista vuotanut lahja. Pane huulilleni ne sanat,
jotka edistävät miehenmieltä, kuntoa ja hyvyyttä kansassani ja
kajastuttavat sen näkyviin ijäisyyskuvia sen matkalla määränpäätä
kohden vuosituhansien taa! Miksi, ellei juuri sitä varten, annoit
syntisille ihmisraukoille lahjan, jonka ainoastaan metsän viattomat
visertäjät olisivat otolliset saamaan?
— Pianko?
— Hyvästi siksi!