Abstract
The paper outlines the concept of the human being as homo biotechnologicus. This concept is just one version of many possible human self-interpretations, since human beings can answer their own fundamental question of ‘who are we?’ simply using their ‘human, all too human’ self-descriptions. However, technology is a substantial part of the human being as a natural being, and biotechnology is, moreover, its root. The biotechnology of today’s world means that humanity is set on a path to transcending its own human nature, with all the risky consequences that entails. The author considers these radical developments from the standpoint of posthumanism
References
Aristotle (1999). Nicomachean Ethics. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Co.10.1093/oseo/instance.00258595Search in Google Scholar
Bachelard, G. (1953). La materialisme rationel. Paris: PUF.Search in Google Scholar
Bainbridge, W. S. (2004). Early convergence research and education supported by the National Science Foundation. Ann NY Acad. Sci. 1013, 234-58.10.1196/annals.1305.017Search in Google Scholar
Braidotti, R. (2013). The posthuman. Cambridge: Polity.Search in Google Scholar
Dewey, J. (1925/1988). Experience and nature. The Later Works of John Dewey, Vol. 1, 1925 - 1953.Search in Google Scholar
Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Dusek, V. (2006). Philosophy of Technology - An Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell.Search in Google Scholar
Düwell, M., Braarvig, J., Brownsword, R., & Mieth, D. (Eds.). (2014). The Cambridge handbook of human dignity. Interdisciplinary perspectives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9780511979033Search in Google Scholar
Fukuyama, F. (2002). Our posthuman future.London: Profile Books.Search in Google Scholar
Gehlen, A. (1940/2014). Der Mensch, seine Natur und seine Stellung in der Welt. Wiebelsheim: AULAVerlag.Search in Google Scholar
Heidegger, M. 1977. The question concerning technology and other essays. New York and London: Garland Publishing.Search in Google Scholar
Keekok, L. (2009). Homo faber: The unity of the history and philosophy of technology. In J. K. B. Olsen, E. Selinger, & S. Riis (Eds). New waves in philosophy of technology (pp. 13-39). Palgrave Macmillan.10.1057/9780230227279_2Search in Google Scholar
Keulartz, F. W. J., Korthals, M., Schermer, M., & Swierstra, T. E. (Eds.). (2002). Pragmatist ethics for a technological culture. Dordrecht: Kluwer.10.1007/978-94-010-0301-8Search in Google Scholar
Kurzweil, R. (2005): The singularity is near: When humans transcend biology. New York: Viking.Search in Google Scholar
Lippert-Ramussen, K., Thomsen, M. R., & Wamberg, J. (2012). The posthuman condition: Ethics, aesthetics and politics of biotechnological challenges. Aarhus: Aarhus University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Maturana, F., & Varela, H., (1973). Autopoiesis and cognition: The realization of the living. Dordrecht: Reidel.Search in Google Scholar
Mitcham, C., & Schatzberg, E. (2009). Defining technology and the engineering sciences. In A.10.1016/B978-0-444-51667-1.50006-9Search in Google Scholar
Meijers (Ed.), Handbook of the philosophy of science. Vol. 9 (pp. 27-64). Amsterdam and London: Elsevier and North Holland.Search in Google Scholar
Plato (1997). Complete works. John M. Cooper (Ed.). Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Co.Search in Google Scholar
Polanyi, M. (1967). The Tacit dimension. New York: Anchor Books.Search in Google Scholar
Salomon, J. J. (1992/1997). Technologický úděl (Technological fate). Praha: Filosofia.Search in Google Scholar
Savulescu, J., & Bostrom, N. (Eds.). (2009): Human enhancement. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Šmajs, J. (2008). Filosofie - Obrat k Zemi (Philosophy - A turn to the earth). Praha: Academia. Search in Google Scholar
© Institute for Research in Social Communication, Slovak Academy of Sciences
