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Cyberneuroethics • 161
philosopher William Lighthall (1857–1954).253 In this article, Julian Huxley
described the aims of transhumanism as follows:
Up till now human life has generally been, as Hobbes described it, ‘nasty, brut-
ish and short’; the great majority of human beings (if they have not already
died young) have been afflicted with misery . . . we can justifiably hold the
belief that . . . the present limitations and miserable frustrations of our exis-
tence could be in large measure surmounted . . . The human species can, if it
wishes, transcend itself – not just sporadically, an individual here in one way,
an individual there in another way, but in its entirety, as humanity.254
Julian Huxley explored developments in ecology, genetics, palaeontology,
geographical distribution, embryology, systematics and comparative anatomy,
which he outlined in 1942 in Evolution: The Modern Synthesis.255 However,
the ideas behind transhumanism and the enhancement of humanity can
be traced back to the Enlightenment ideology of promoting technological
changes as the engines of human progress. This included writers such as the
French encyclopaedist Denis Diderot (1713–84), who was a leading member
of the Enlightenment.
In more specific terms, transhumanism can be characterised as a multidis-
ciplinary cultural phenomenon consisting of beliefs, norms, literature and
social practices addressing not only scientific and technological changes but
also deeper human existential concerns. In fact, it can be considered as an
ideology of ultimate progress aiming at delivering humanity from the limita-
tions of human nature, including the biological, mortal body. In other words,
it welcomes technology as the main driving force of cultural change.256 It
offers a vision of the right moral ordering of self and society in relation to a
technology-driven global transformation. This means that transhumanism
signals a shift from the human to the transhuman existence, as well as actions
and beliefs that will promote and influence the optimal transhuman future.257
It follows that transhumanism is different from the concept of enhance-
ment in that it seeks to create beings who have never previously existed in
the history of humankind. But these beings would retain some human char-
acteristics, such as with human-nonhuman interspecies beings or cyborgs
that combine the human with the robot. For instance, the Cybermen of
the BBC fictional television series Doctor Who used a process called cyber-
conversion that involved replacing the human flesh of a person with cyber-
netic upgrades in order to increase their numbers rather than using biological
reproduction.258
Similarly, the 1952 science-fiction novel Limbo, written by the American
Bernard Wolfe (1915–85), depicts a challenging future where human body
parts are replaced with cybernetic limbs, while examining what happens
when the limits of the body and what is natural are overcome.259
This open access edition has been made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license thanks to the support of Knowledge Unlatched. Not for resale.
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Buch Cyborg Mind - What Brain–Computer and Mind–Cyberspace Interfaces Mean for Cyberneuroethics"
Cyborg Mind
What Brain–Computer and Mind–Cyberspace Interfaces Mean for Cyberneuroethics
- Titel
- Cyborg Mind
- Untertitel
- What Brain–Computer and Mind–Cyberspace Interfaces Mean for Cyberneuroethics
- Autor
- Calum MacKellar
- Verlag
- Berghahn Books
- Datum
- 2019
- Sprache
- englisch
- Lizenz
- CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- ISBN
- 978-1-78920-015-7
- Abmessungen
- 15.2 x 22.9 cm
- Seiten
- 264
- Schlagwörter
- Singularity, Transhumanism, Body modification, Bioethics
- Kategorie
- Technik
Inhaltsverzeichnis
- Chapter 1. Why Use the Term ‘Cyberneuroethics’? 9
- Chapter 2. Popular Understanding of Neuronal Interfaces 25
- Chapter 3. Presentation of the Brain–Mind Interface 31
- Chapter 4. Neuronal Interface Systems 43
- Developments in Information Technology 44
- Developments in Understanding the Brain 45
- Developments in Neuronal Interfaces 46
- Procedures Involved in Neuronal Interfaces 47
- Output Neuronal Interface Systems: Reading the Brain and Mind 49
- Input Neuronal Interface Systems: Changing the Brain and Mind 57
- Feedback Systems of the Brain and Mind 67
- Ethical Issues Relating to the Technology of Neuronal Interfaces 84
- Chapter 5. Cyberneuroethics 99
- Chapter 6. Neuronal Interfaces and Policy 217
- New Cybercrimes 218
- Policy Concerns 223
- Conclusion 229
- Human Autonomy 232
- Resistance to Such a Development 234
- Risks of Neuronal Interfaces 234
- Appendix. Scottish Council on Human Bioethics Recommendations on
- Cyberneuroethics 239
- Glossary 244
- Index 251