Transhumanism and otherness

Abstract

In recent years, the transhumanist movement has gained mediatic relevance. At the same time, it has received serious critiques. This communication adds a new critique: the neglect of otherness. In order to justify this charge, the following argument is used: the transhumanist ideology is based upon «technoscientific reason», a mode of rational activity which approaches the world as made of objects available for manipulation. Technoscientific reason ignores otherness and that’s why the transhumanist notion of «enhancement» is oriented toward the exaltation of the power of the individual self. This exaltation culminates with the promise of digital immortality. The communication ends arguing that even the concept of «moral enhancement» used by some transhumanists is equally contaminated by the neglect of otherness.

Keywords: alterity, otherness, transhumanism, technoscientific reason.