The editors of What Is Enlightenment? profile twelve positions on Evolution v. Religion debates, with lists of key writers and texts.
1 The Neo-Darwinists
2 The Progressive Darwinists
3 The Collectivists
4 The Complexity Theorists
5 The Directionalists
6 The Transhumanists
7 The Intelligent Designers
8 The Theistic Evolutionists
9 The Esoteric Evolutionists
10 The Process Philosophers
11 The Conscious Evolutionists
12 The Integralists
6. Transhumanists
Core idea
Human beings must take control of their continued evolution—primarily through bioengineering, cybernetics, nanorobotics, and other technological means.
What they say. . .
Often referring to themselves as “H+” (Human Plus), the Transhumanists are an eclectic group of individuals united in their conviction that biological evolution can take living creatures only so far. Humanity’s continued evolutionary progress, they believe, now depends on each of us wresting the reins of our common destiny from the turgid grip of Mother Nature and taking conscious control of the process ourselves—using every conceivable technological tool at our disposal. Inspired by Julian Huxley’s 1957 essay “Transhumanism,” which coined the term, the Transhumanists revere traditional humanistic values and beliefs (such as atheism) but are critical of humanists for not appreciating the radical ways in which emerging technologies are changing the very definition of what it means to be human….
Yawning in the face of the Neo-Darwinists and just about every other breed of evolutionary theorist, the Transhumanists are here to take matters into their own hands. Brimming with insatiable optimism and more than a little faith in the power of science to cure all that ails our world, they are likely to inspire as many parts hope and wonder as caution and concern. Materialists to the core, they are frequently criticized for barely batting an eye at the ethical concerns surrounding topics like human cloning, biological immortality, and accelerating technological development. They counter such concerns with the assertion that transcending limitations is what being alive is all about….
“Although version 2.0 of the human body is an ongoing grand project that will ultimately result in the radical upgrading of all our physical and mental systems, we will implement it one small, benign step at a time.”
Ray Kurzweil
Major Figures
Nick Bostrom
Hugo de Garis
Robert Ettinger
James Hughes
Ray Kurzweil
Hans Moravec
Max More
David Pearce
Natasha Vita-More
Simon Young
Link
IEET Blog