Hi everyone, my name is Francesca Ferrando and I'm a professor here at NYU's program of Liberal Studies, and I am a philosopher of the posthuman. In this video I want to address an important concept related to the question, What are the main differences between these two important and related movements, which are Posthumanism on one side and Transhumanism on the other side?
We have to focus here then on what is the main goal for each movement. The main goal for Transhumanism is human enhancement:
The main online platform of Transhumanism at the moment is actually called Humanity +, H+. This is why Anthropocentrism is not criticized; Anthropocentrism is left intact, so we're not talking about Posthumanism; we're talking about ultra-humanism--humanity +--which focuses on the human.
The difference is radical with Posthumanism. According to Posthumanism, the main goal is actually the deconstruction of the human, which is done in three ways: post-humanism, post-anthropocentrism, and post-dualism. The idea here is that, with Posthumanism, the human is not one but many. With post-anthropocentrism, the human no longer seen as the most important species or the species that should have an ontological privilege. With post-dualism, or ontology, existence is perceived in interconnected ways as opposed to dualistic ways.
So these are the main differences between Posthumanism and Transhumanism. Transhumanism’s main focus is "humanity plus" in human enhancement. That is why we can say that Transhumanism is an anthropocentric movement. On the other side, the main goal of Posthumanism is the deconstruction of the human done in three ways: through post-humanism, post-anthropocentrism, and post-dualism. Do they share certain elements? Of course. These two movements see the human as an open notion, especially with regards to the evolution of technology as ecology. So the human is seen as an open notion, but this brings some very different consequences for both Posthumanism and Transhumanism.
Thank you so much for your kind attention. You can find more information on this topic on my website, www.theposthuan.org.
We have to focus here then on what is the main goal for each movement. The main goal for Transhumanism is human enhancement:
The main online platform of Transhumanism at the moment is actually called Humanity +, H+. This is why Anthropocentrism is not criticized; Anthropocentrism is left intact, so we're not talking about Posthumanism; we're talking about ultra-humanism--humanity +--which focuses on the human.
The difference is radical with Posthumanism. According to Posthumanism, the main goal is actually the deconstruction of the human, which is done in three ways: post-humanism, post-anthropocentrism, and post-dualism. The idea here is that, with Posthumanism, the human is not one but many. With post-anthropocentrism, the human no longer seen as the most important species or the species that should have an ontological privilege. With post-dualism, or ontology, existence is perceived in interconnected ways as opposed to dualistic ways.
So these are the main differences between Posthumanism and Transhumanism. Transhumanism’s main focus is "humanity plus" in human enhancement. That is why we can say that Transhumanism is an anthropocentric movement. On the other side, the main goal of Posthumanism is the deconstruction of the human done in three ways: through post-humanism, post-anthropocentrism, and post-dualism. Do they share certain elements? Of course. These two movements see the human as an open notion, especially with regards to the evolution of technology as ecology. So the human is seen as an open notion, but this brings some very different consequences for both Posthumanism and Transhumanism.
Thank you so much for your kind attention. You can find more information on this topic on my website, www.theposthuan.org.
