IEET Introductory Literature

IEET White Paper Series

An IEET White Paper by By George Dvorsky and James Hughes.

This essay is forthcoming in an edited book on gender and reproductive technologies, but in a shorter, revised form. So we wanted to share this IEET White Paper version with our readership for comment and improvement that we can use in revising the book chapter.

Abstract: Postgenderism is an extrapolation of ways that technology is eroding the biological, psychological and social role of gender, and an argument for why the erosion of binary gender will be liberatory. Postgenderists argue that gender is an arbitrary and unnecessary limitation on human potential, and foresee the elimination of involuntary biological and psychological gendering in the human species through the application of neurotechnology, biotechnology and reproductive technologies. Postgenderists contend that dyadic gender roles and sexual dimorphisms are generally to the detriment of individuals and society. Assisted reproduction will make it possible for individuals of any sex to reproduce in any combinations they choose, with or without “mothers” and “fathers,” and artificial wombs will make biological wombs unnecessary for reproduction. Greater biological fluidity and psychological androgyny will allow future persons to explore both masculine and feminine aspects of personality. Postgenderists do not call for the end of all gender traits, or universal androgyny, but rather that those traits become a matter of choice. Bodies and personalities in our postgender future will no longer be constrained and circumscribed by gendered traits, but enriched by their use in the palette of diverse self-expression.

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Abstract: Most agree that our lives and our world are better if we are happier. So linking the moral goal of greater happiness with our biological understanding of happiness seems obvious. Let us think of the position that it is permissible for individuals to make this linkage—to use pharmacology and other technologies in the service of increased happiness—as the ‘bio-happiness’ proposal. Several different technologies might be used in pursuit of this goal, e.g., pharmacological agents (“happy pills” ) might be developed, or pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) to select embryos with genes associated with a high level of happiness, or genetically engineering embryos for happiness.  Most of the paper is devoted to defending bio-happiness against criticisms. The field of which may be characterized as follows:

(1)  Happiness is not of moral importance.
(2)  Bio-happiness cannot increase our happiness.
(3)  Bio-happiness will come at too great a cost to other moral values.

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As the potential for enhancement technologies migrates from the theoretical to the practical, a difficult and important decision will be imposed upon human civilization, namely the issue as to whether or not we are morally obligated to biologically enhance nonhuman animals and integrate them into human and posthuman society. Precedents for intra-species cultural uplift abound in human history, providing both sobering and edifying episodes showcasing the possibilities for the instigated and accelerated advancement of technologically delayed societies. As a number of scientists, philosophers and futurists have recently argued, there is mounting evidence in support of the suggestion that these historical episodes are symptomatic of a larger developmental trend, namely the inexorable and steady advancement of intelligence. Civilizational progress necessarily implies increasing levels of organization and refinement across all realms of activity. Consequently, the status of nonhuman species and the biosphere will eventually come under the purview of guided intelligence rather than autonomous processes. That said, a developmental tendency towards uplift does not imply that it is good or right; more properly, it can be argued that uplift scenarios do in fact carry moral currency. Through the application of Rawlsian moral frameworks, and in consideration of the acknowledgement of legally recognized nonhuman persons, it can be shown that the presence of uplift biotechnologies will represent a new primary good and will thus necessitate the inclusion of highly sapient nonhumans into what has traditionally been regarded as human society. In addition to issues of distributive justice, the Rawlsian notion of original position can be used to answer the question of whether or not there is consent to uplift. Finally, it will be shown that the presence of uplift biotechnologies in the absence of the legal recognition of nonhuman persons and a mandate for responsible uplifting will ultimately lead to abuse, adding another important consideration to the uplift imperative.

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Journal of Evolution and Technology

Recent Books by IEET Fellows and Staff

Change or Perish is the first monograph on transhumanism published in Italy. Written by one of the leading exponents of transhumanism in the world, the book analyzes both the new converging technologies revolutionizing human life and the social movement supporting this trend. The bioconservative movement opposing the use of these technologies is also analyzed in detail. Self-directed evolution, anti-aging therapies, radical life extension, human enhancement, human-machine and human-animal hybrids, cloning, cryonic suspension, stem cells research, robotics, artificial intelligence, mind uploading, and the singularity are just some of the topics addressed by the author. All these technologies and phenomena – already existing or just predicted – are examined in their political, social, historical and philosophical dimensions. In the last chapters, moving from a descriptive perspective to a normative one, the author argues in favor of posthuman transformation, and especially for the necessity to permit the widest possible access to all technologies leading to posthuman transformation.

A captivating book that reveals how corporations have come to dominate all aspects of life—including our inner lives—and what to do about it. Something has gone terribly wrong. Unquestionably, but seemingly inexplicably, we now live in a world where the market has infiltrated every area of our lives. In Life Incorporated, brilliant and charismatic cultural theorist Douglas Rushkoff argues that we no longer know who we are, or what we want. Everything, especially authenticity, is branded. Real community and real intimacy have broken down, replaced by market-tested cures for everything from weight, to conception, to poverty, to food, to finding a mate. The market, and its operating system, Corporatism, is no longer something people build and control. Rather, it builds and controls us.

Rushkoff, in tracing the roots of corporatism from the Renaissance to today, reveals the way it supplanted social interaction and local commerce and came to be regarded as a preexisting condition of our world, from the history of public relations to the relentless gentrification of America’s urban neighborhoods. And he shows us how to fight back: how to de-corporatize ourselves, disengage from branded expectations, think locally, and return to the real world of human activity. As Rushkoff puts it, “Micro-decisions are what matter.”

Udo Schuklenk is a German-Australian philosopher. He has written or edited five books and published over one hundred articles in peer reviewed journals and books. His latest books are the co-edited volumes The Power of Pills and The Bioethics Reader. He is the Joint Editor-in-Chief of the international journal Bioethics and currently the Ontario Research Chair in Bioethics at Queen’s University in Canada. His current research focuses on ethical and policy issues in drug research and development. Russell Blackford is a freelance writer, critic, and editor, based in Melbourne, Australia. He teaches part-time in the School of Philosophy and Bioethics at Monash University, where he specialises mainly in philosophical bioethics and legal/political philosophy. He is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Evolution and Technology, an on-line peer reviewed journal devoted to rigorous consideration of future prospects for the human species or its possible descendants.

What do we do if our best efforts to limit the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere fall short? According to a growing number of environmental scientists, we may be forced to try an experiment in global climate management: geoengineering. Geoengineering would be risky, likely to provoke international tension, and certain to have unexpected consequences. It may also be inevitable. Environmental futurist Jamais Cascio explores the implications of geoengineering in this collection of thought-provoking essays. Is our civilization ready to take on the task of re-engineering the planet?

ISBN: 978-0-19-929972-0 - Publisher: Oxford University Press (22 January 2009)

New essays on the human enhancement debate from some of the world’s leading ethicists, including Nick Bostrom, Julian Savulescu, Norman Daniels, Eric Jeungst, Michael Sandel, Frances Kamm, John Harris, Erik Parens, Arthur L. Caplan, Dan W. Brock, Peter Singer, Daniel Wikler, and Anders Sandberg.
       

Science fiction is more than mere entertainment. Historian H. Bruce Franklin defines it as ‘the literature which, growing with science and technology, evaluates it and relates it meaningfully to the rest of human existence’. “Science Fiction and Philosophy” explores timely philosophical issues such as the nature of persons and their minds, puzzles about virtual reality, transhumanism, whether time travel is possible, the nature of artificial intelligence, and topics in neuroethics. This thought-provoking volume is suitable for students and general readers and at the same time examines new and more advanced topics of interest to seasoned philosophers and scientists.

Based on a conference entitled “Tomorrow’s People: the Challenges of Technologies for Life Extension and Enhancement” which was organized by the James Martin Institute for Science and Civilization at Oxford University’s Saïd Business School and held in Oxford in 2006.

4 Personality Enhancement and Transfer - Bill Bainbridge

6 Beyond Human Nature - James Hughes

11 Postponing Ageing: Re-identifying the Experts? - Aubrey de Grey

17 Brain Boosters - Nick Bostrom and Anders Sandberg

In recent years, the long-term future of humanity has become of particular concern to various governance bodies and scholarly institutions. This is due to the many biological transgressions that have begun to occur through emerging technologies, such as genetic modification, cloning, stem cell research and much more. These transgressions call into question the foundations of social order, thus creating a complex, multifaceted imperative for humanity as a whole to foresee.This innovative book, stimulated by material from FACT’s Human Futures programme and informed by inquiry into the future of humanity, combines scholarly essays, images, interviews, design products, artistic artefacts, original quotations and creative writing. Together, these works present contributions from key thinkers, authors and artists, whose work actively interrogates the expectations and actualities of human futures as they emerge within the social sphere. “Human Futures” portrays how the visual and textual culture of technological innovation is made and remade through bioculturally diverse forms of consumption. Issues addressed in the book include: the convergence of the NBIC (nano-, bio-, info-, cogno-) sciences; the ethics and aesthetics of human enhancement; the future of biological migration and transgressions; the emergence of systems and synthetic biology; the prospect of emotional and networked intelligence and ecosystem responsibility.While debates about these themes are often visible in discrete areas of scientific inquiry or artistic endeavour, this book brings together these disparate studies to explore moments of their interaction. The result is an invaluable resource for anyone with an interest in the clash of art, technology and bioethics and its impact on humanity today and ‘tomorrow’.This is a provocative examination of some of the most contentious moral and philosophical issues of our day. It includes a diverse range of original essays about the future of humanity. It includes contributions from leading scholars including Nigel S. Cameron (Director of the Center on Nanotechnology and Society and Associate Dean at Chicago-Kent College of Law in the Illinois Institute of Technology), Professor Sandra Kemp (Royal College of Art, London), Steve Fuller (University of Warwick), and Professor George J. Annas (Boston University School of Public Health, School of Medicine, and School of Law).

A global catastrophic risk is one with the potential to wreak death and destruction on a global scale. In human history, wars and plagues have done so on more than one occasion, and misguided ideologies and totalitarian regimes have darkened an entire era or a region. Advances in technology are adding dangers of a new kind. It could happen again.

In Global Catastrophic Risks 26 leading experts look at the gravest risks facing humanity in the 21st century, including natural catastrophes, nuclear war, terrorism, global warming, biological weapons, totalitarianism, advanced nanotechnology, general artificial intelligence, and social collapse. The book also addresses over-arching issues - policy responses and methods for predicting and managing catastrophes.

Sir Martin J. Rees: Foreword Nick Bostrom and Milan M. Cirkovic: Introduction Background Fred C. Adams: Long-term astrophysical processes Christopher Wills: Evolution theory and the future of humanity James J. Hughes: Millenial tendencies in responses to apocalyptic threats Eliezer Yudkowsky: Cognitive biases potentially affecting judgememnt of global risks Milan M. Cirkovic: Observation selection effects: the Fermi paradox, the Doomsday argument and the simulation argument Yacov Y. Haimes: Systems-based risk analysis Peter Taylor: Catastrophes and insurance Richard A. Posner: Public policy toward catastrophe Risks from Nature Michael R. Rampino: Supervolcanism and other geophysical processes of catastrophic import William Napier: Hazards from comets and asteroids Arnon Dar: Influence of supernovae, gamma-ray bursts, solar flares, and cosmic rays on the terrestrial environment Risks from Unintended Consequences David Frame and Myles Allen: Climate change and global risk Edwin Dennis Kilbourne: Plagues and pandemics: past, present, and future Eliezer Yudkowski: Artificial Intelligence as a positive and negative factor in global risk Frank Wilczek: Big troubles, imagined and real Robin Hanson: Catastrophe, social collapse, and and human extinction Joseph Cirincione: The continuing threat of nuclear war William Potter and Gary Ackerman: Catastrophic nuclear terrorism: a preventable peril Ali Nouri and Christopher F. Chyba: Biotechnology and biosecurity Chris Phoenix and Mike Treder: Nanotechnology as global catastrophic risk Bryan Caplan: The totalitarian threat

One hundred short stories, each about one hundred words long, reflecting on the near future. You can also subscribe to Marcelo’s Hectowords blog for regular installments.

Examines the link between health and identity, and cybercultural identity. The medicalization of many aspects of social life, from childbirth to diet to housing, has become more and more apparent at the beginning of the twenty-first century. The involvement of ‘cyberspace’ in this new medicalized world is significant; as medical advice and medication is now easily available on the Internet, e-communities of sufferers and users abound. However the relationship between health, medicalization, cyberculture, the body and identity has been little explored. This book explores these complex social interactions and addresses topical issues, looking at specific aspects such as reproductive rights and technologies, gender and sexuality, cyber identity and non-humanness.

Etica della scienza pura è un poderoso volume di circa 600 pagine che ripercorre la storia del pensiero occidentale alla ricerca dei presupposti etici dell’impresa scientifica. Lo studio parte dal pensiero antico, precisamente dai racconti biblici e dalla filosofia greca, per arrivare alle ultime frontiere dell’ingegneria genetica e del transumanesimo. Durante il percorso, vengono analizzate le idee di molti scienziati e filosofi, tra i quali Socrate, Platone, Aristotele, Agostino, R. Bacone, Leonardo, Copernico, Bruno, Galileo, Campanella, Cartesio, F. Bacone, Diderot, Voltaire, La Mettrie, Condorcet, Saint-Simon, Comte, J. S. Mill, Spencer, Cattaneo, Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche, Enriques, Bachelard, Popper, Durkheim, Weber, Merton, Barnes, Dolby, Feyerabend, Prelli, Mitroff, Lyotard, Monod, Sztompka e Bunge.

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