Transhumanism
Transhumanism – a rational worldview based on reflection on the achievements and prospects of science. It recognizes the possibility and desirability of fundamental changes in the human condition through advanced technologies, with the aim of eliminating suffering, ageing, and death, and of significantly enhancing human physical, intellectual, and psychological capacities. In some versions of transhumanist thought, this may also include the transformation, weakening, or overcoming of existing sex and gender distinctions.
Transhumanism is sometimes associated with posthumanism or new humanism, although these terms are not fully identical. The prefix trans- in this context conveys the meaning of going beyond, crossing, or moving outside existing limits, as in the word transgender. The term transhumanism was proposed by Julian Huxley, one of the founders of UNESCO, in 1957.
According to transhumanism, the contemporary human being is not the final stage of evolution, but rather the beginning of the further evolution of the species Homo sapiens.
From the perspective of gender and feminist theory, transhumanism is significant because it raises questions about the technological transformation of the body, reproduction, embodiment, ageing, sexuality, and the boundaries of sex and gender. Feminist interpretations of transhumanism may view advanced technologies as a possible means of weakening biological determinism and expanding bodily autonomy. At the same time, feminist critique draws attention to the risks of new inequalities, technological elitism, control over reproduction, and the possible reproduction of patriarchal ideals of the “improved” body.
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