Transhumanism, Posthumanism, And The “Cyborg Identity”

Year 2021, Volume: 13 Issue: 1, 177 - 187, 10.06.2021

Cennet Ceren Çavuş

https://doi.org/10.46655/federgi.947009

Cited By: 2

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief analysis of two confusable philosophical positions,
Transhumanism and Posthumanism, and compare their approaches in terms of their social and
ecological concerns through an examination of Donna Haraway’s “cyborg identity.” Haraway
introduces a ground-breaking approach in A Cyborg Manifesto and her later works, which blurs the
formerly defined, distinct categories and identities that underlie the oppression of animals, humans,
men, women, machines etc. By using postmodernist deconstruction, she wants to challenge Western
dualisms and all kinds of oppression it causes. While Transhumanists, who inherit anthropocentrism
from Humanism, support technological advancement to enhance the human condition, Posthumanists
draw attention to the harms of the anthropocentric approach in terms of social and ecological justice
and offer a more comprehensive and compassionate approach to other species inhabiting the planet.
Since both Transhumanists and Posthumanists promote enhancement, Transhumanists need
Posthumanist insights to really enhance the human condition concerning her environment.

Keywords

Posthumanism, Transhumanism, Ecofeminism

References

• Allenby, Braden. “Technology and Transhumanism: Unpredictability, Radical Contingency, and Accelerating Change,” Building Better Humans?: Refocusing the Debate on Transhumanism ed. Hava Tirosh-Samuelson and Kenneth L. Mossman (Frankfurt: Peter Land, 2011), 441-464.
• Åsberg, Cecilia and Braidotti, Rosi. “Feminist Posthumanities: An Introduction,” A Feminist Companion to the Posthumanities eds. Cecilia Åsberg and Rosi Braidotti (Switzerland: Springer, 2018), 1-22.
• Åsberg, Cecilia and Radomska, Marietta “Why we need feminist posthumanities for a more-than-human world,” August 23, 2019, https://www