GREG EGAN’IN “EKSTRA” ADLI ÖYKÜSÜ BAĞLAMINDA TRANSHÜMANİST İDEALLERE ELEŞTİREL BİR YAKLAŞIM

Year 2023, Issue: 10, 24 - 35, 31.12.2023

Yağmur Kızılay

https://doi.org/10.51540/ijof.1351449

Abstract

Avustralyalı bilim-kurgu yazarı Greg Egan’ın “Ekstra” adlı öyküsü (1990) insan klonlarının organ bağışçısı olarak kullanılmasının ve yaşam süresini uzatmak amacıyla insan beyninin klon bedenlerine nakledilmesinin mümkün olduğu transhümanist bir gelecek tasviri sunar. Bu çalışma, transhümanist klonlama ve nakil teknolojilerinin hem bireysel hem de sosyal düzeyde insan yaşamı için zararlı sonuçlar doğurma potansiyeline sahip olduğunun anlaşılması için Egan’ın “Ekstra” öyküsünün eleştirel bir transhümanist analizini sunmayı amaçlamaktadır. Bu analiz sonucunda bu çalışma transhümanist teknolojiler aracılığıyla beden ve zihin birlikteliğine yapılan radikal müdahalelerin bireyi tam bir benlik algısına yabancılaştırarak insan kimliğinin bütünlüğünü bozabileceği fikrini ortaya koyacaktır. Buna ek olarak, transhümanist bir toplum yapısının geliştirme teknolojilerine erişimi olanlar ve olmayanlar arasındaki hiyerarşik uçurumu derinleştirmesinin yanı sıra mağdur edilen ve ötekileştirilen yeni bir grup olarak klonların sömürüsüne yol açabileceği sonucuna varılacaktır.

Keywords

Greg Egan, "Ekstra", transhümanizm, klonlar, beyin nakli

A CRITICAL APPROACH TO TRANSHUMANIST IDEALS WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF GREG EGAN’S “THE EXTRA”

Abstract

Australian science-fiction author Greg Egan’s short story, “The Extra” (1990) envisions a transhumanist future in which the use of human clones as organ donors and the transplantation of human brains’ into clones’ bodies with the aim of extending the human lifespan are made possible. This study aims to present a critical transhumanist analysis of Egan’s “The Extra” in order to provide insight into how the transhumanist technologies of cloning and transplantation hold the potential to engender detrimental outcomes for human life both at the individual and social level. This study will demonstrate that the radical interventions in the interdependence of the body and the mind via transhumanist technologies could disrupt the integrity of human identity by alienating the individual from a unified sense of self. In addition to this, it will also be concluded that a transhumanist society may pose the risk of not only deepening the hierarchical gap between those who have access to enhancement technologies and those who do not but also exploiting the clones as a new victimized and marginalized group.

Keywords

Greg Egan, "The Extra", transhumanism, clones, brain transplant

References

• Baratta, C. (2012). Introduction. C. Baratta (Ed.). Environmentalism in the realm of science fiction and fantasy literature (1st ed., pp. 1-8). Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
• Bauman, Z. (2001). The ındividualized society. (1st ed.). Polity Press.
• Bauman, Z. (2010). Living on borrowed time: conversations with citlali rovirosa-madrazo. (1st ed.). Polity Press.
• Baumann, F. (2010). Humanism and transhumanism. The New Atlantis, 29, 68-84. Retrieved June 10, 2023, from https://www.jstor.org/stable/43152560
• Bergsma A. (2000). Transhumanism and the wisdom of old genes is neurotechnology as source of future happiness? Journal of Happiness Studies, 1(3), 401-417. Retrieved 09 March, 2023, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1010016532529
• Bostrom, N. (2003). The transhumanist FAQ: a general ıntroduction. version 2.1. World Transhumanist Association. Retrieved May 20, 2023, from https: nickbostrom.com/views/transhumanist.pdf
• Bostrom, N. (2014). Why I want to be a posthuman when I grow up. R. L. Sandler (Ed.). Ethics and Emerging Technologies (1st ed., pp. 218- 234). Palgrave Macmillan.
• Braidotti, R. (2013). The posthuman. (1st ed.). Polity Press.
• Burnham, K. (2014). Greg egan. (1st ed.). University of Illinois Press.
• Davis, M. (2013). Mind and matter in “the picture of Dorian Gray”. Victorian Literature and Culture, 41(3), 547-560. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved June 13, 2023, from https://www.jstor.org/stable/24575691
• Descartes, R. (2006). A discourse on the method of correctly conducting one’s reason and seeking truth in the sciences. (I. Maclean, Trans.). Oxford University Press. (Original work published 1637)
• Egan, G. (1990). The Extra. Eidolon: The Journal of Australian Science Fiction & Fantasy, 1(2), 33-48. Retrieved Feb. 13, 2022, from http://eidolon.net/eidolon_magazine/issue_02/02_extra.htm
• Elliott, C. (2003). Humanity 2.0. The Wilson Quarterly 27 (4), 13-20. Retrieved April 21, 2023, from https://www.jstor.org/stable/40260800
• Foucault, M. (1978). The history of sexuality. Volume 1: An Introduction. (R. Hurley, Trans.). (1st ed.). Pantheon Books.
• Freud, S. (2000). An outline of psychoanalysis. I. Smith (Ed.), Freud Complete Works (pp. 4954-5011). Retrieved April 16, 2023, from https://www.valas.fr/IMG/pdf/Freud_Complete_Works.pdf. (Original work published in 1940)
• Fuchs, T. (2009). Embodied cognitive neuroscience and ıts consequences for psychiatry. Poiesis & Praxis, 6, 219-233. Retrieved April 15, 2023, from https:// www.researchgate.net/publication/ 285872675
• Fuchs, T. & Schlimme, J. E. (2009). Embodiment and psychopathology: a phenomenological perspective. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 22, 570-575. Retrieved May 11, 2023, from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/636c/188034be12926c97c50798cf9856a8d4f21d
• Hayles, K. N. (1999). How we became posthuman: virtual bodies in cybernetics, literature, and ınformatics. (1st ed.). The University of Chicago Press.
• Hayles, K. N. (2010). Wrestling with transhumanism. G. R. Hansell & W. Grassie (Eds.), H± Transhumanism and Its Critics (1st ed., pp. 215-226). Metanexus Institute.
• Huxley, J. (1959). New bottles for new wine. Chatto & Windus. (Original work published 1957).
• Klichowski, M. & Marciniak, M. (2013). The paradox of commodification of the body in the society of consumption and cyborgization. Educational Studies, 29, 153-167. Retrieved Jan. 14, 2023, from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/270624269
• Lacan, J. (1977). The mirror stage as formative of the function of the I as revealed in psychoanalytic experience. A. Sheridan (Trans.), Ecrits: A Selection (pp. 1-5). Routledge. (Original work published 1949)
• Lacan, J. (1977). The agency of the letter in the unconscious or reason since Freud. A. Sheridan (Trans.), Ecrits: A Selection (pp. 111-136). Routledge. (Original work published 1957)
• LaTorra, M. (2010). Transhumanism: threat or menace? a response to Andrew Pickering. G. R. Hansell & W. Grassie (Eds.). H Transhumanism and Its Critics (1st ed., pp. 205-211). Metanexus Institute.
• Marsen, S. (2010). Playing by the rules-or not? constructions of identity in a posthuman future. G. R. Hansell &
• W. Grassie (Eds.), H Transhumanism and Its Critics (1st ed., pp. 84-93). Metanexus Institute.
• Marx, C. (2011). Capital: A critique of political economy. volume i book one: the process of production of capital. F. Engels (Ed.). (S. Moore & E. Aveling, Trans.). Progress Publishers. Retrieved June 22, 2023, from https: // www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/ download/pdf/Capital-Volume_I.pdf. (Originally published 1867)
• Marx, C. & Engels, F. (1969). The communist manifesto. Marks & Engels selected works. Vol. One. (pp. 98-137). Progress Publishers. (Original work published 1848)
• More, M. (1990). Transhumanism: towards a futurist philosophy. Extropy, 6, 6-13. Retrieved April 19, 2023, from http://fennetic.net/irc/extropy/ext6.pdf
• More, M. (1998). The extropian principles version 3.0: a transhumanist declaration. Retrieved June 27, 2023, from http://www.mrob.com/pub/religion/extro_prin.html
• Pastourmatzi, D. (2009). Flesh encounters biotechnology: speculations on the future of the biological machine. In Z. Detsi-Diamanti & K. K. Mitakou & E. Yiannopoulou (Eds.), The Future of Flesh: A Cultural Survey of the Body (pp.199-221). Palgrave Macmillan.
• Peters, T. (2010). Transhumanism and the posthuman future: will technological progress get us there? G. R. Hansell & W. Grassie (Eds.), H± Transhumanism and Its Critics (1st ed., pp. 147-175). Metanexus Institute.
• Tirosh-Samuelson, H. (2010). Engaging transhumanism. G. R. Hansell & W. Grassie (Eds.), H± Transhumanism and Its Critics (1st ed., pp. 19-52). Metanexus Institute.
• Vint, S. (2007). The bodies of tomorrow: technology, subjectivity, science fiction. (1st ed.). University of Toronto Press.
• Wolfe, C. (2009). What is posthumanism? (1st ed.). University of Minnesota Press.