« TRANSHUMANISM IS THE PHILOSOPHY THAT WE CAN AND SHOULD DEVELOP TO HIGHER LEVELS, BOTH PHYSICALLY, MENTALLY AND SOCIALLY, USING RATIONAL METHODS. »
ANDERS SANDBERG
FOR A FEW YEARS NOW, TRANSHUMANISM HAS BEEN A MOVEMENT OF THOUGHT WHOSE INFLUENCE CAN NO LONGER BE DENIED, BOTH INTERNATIONALLY WITHIN THE MEDIA AND IN THE ACADEMIC, POLITICAL, AND ECONOMIC WORLDS. HOWEVER, RECOGNISING THE EMERGENCE OF A PHENOMENON IS NOT THE SAME AS KNOWING IT. MANY QUESTIONS REMAIN UNANSWERED ABOUT THE VERY NATURE OF TRANSHUMANISM(S).
THE PURPOSE OF ETHCONFERENCE2018 IS TO ANALYZE THE CURRENT STATE OF THE ART ON THESE QUESTIONS, EXPLORING TRANSHUMANISMS AND THEIR NARRATIVES. MORE BROADLY, THE CONFERENCE WELCOMES ALL ABSTRACT, PANEL AND PARTICIPATORY WORKSHOP PROPOSALS RELATED TO “TRANSHUMANISM”, “POSTHUMANISM, “HYPERHUMANISM” AND THEIR MANY RELATED TOPICS. PROPOSALS FROM A WIDE RANGE OF DISCIPLINES ARE WARMLY WELCOMED.
THE CONFERENCE IS ORGANISED IN SUCH WAY THAT IT WILL ENABLE DIFFERENT AUDIENCES (SCHOLARS, PROFESSIONALS, CITIZENS, POLITICIANS,...) TO INTERMINGLE, COMBINING THE AMBITION AND USUAL COMPONENTS OF A HIGH-LEVEL ACADEMIC EVENT (TALKS, PANELS, ROUND TABLES,...) AND A THOUGHT-PROVOKING OFF-CONFERENCE RANGE OF ARTISTIC, PEDAGOGICAL AND CULTURAL ACTIVITIES (AUDIENCE-FOCUSED SCIENTIFIC WORKSHOPS, PARTICIPATORY FORUMS, ‘PREDICTIVE JUSTICE’ DEBATING, THEATRE PERFORMANCE, PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF A CULT FILM, A TRANSHUMANISM-THEMED ESCAPE GAME, AND OTHERS)
What are today our possible views of the future?
Delineating them is essential as the ways we envisage the future rest on epistemological assumptions whereof the holder is most often not even aware. But eliciting those assumptions is crucial as without such an inventory, the conditions for an authentic mastery of ethical freedom fail to be met.
A meta-analysis of over 300 prospective scenarios reveal four global types: ranging from the status quo to the extinction of the human race, by way of utopia and dystopia.
Together we shall analyse where do transhumanist scripts fit within such a meta-analysis of all possible futures.
Transhumanist visions of the future and approaches belong to a particular subgroup of possible futures wherein each of us, according to personal values, will read a cherished utopia or a despicable dystopia.
Knowing where are located in the world the zones of influence of transhumanism and what are the reactions it arouses, constitutes an essential informative ingredient of our analysis.
What are we likely to learn?
We can learn what are the benefits of the transhumanist vision and what are its shortcomings. But also and because of the light it sheds, see more clearly what is the utopia and what is the ethics informing it that we may want to subscribe to, and what is therefore our common ground with transhumanism, and whether that common ground is wide or minuscule.
Delineating them is essential as the ways we envisage the future rest on epistemological assumptions whereof the holder is most often not even aware. But eliciting those assumptions is crucial as without such an inventory, the conditions for an authentic mastery of ethical freedom fail to be met.
A meta-analysis of over 300 prospective scenarios reveal four global types: ranging from the status quo to the extinction of the human race, by way of utopia and dystopia.
Together we shall analyse where do transhumanist scripts fit within such a meta-analysis of all possible futures.
Transhumanist visions of the future and approaches belong to a particular subgroup of possible futures wherein each of us, according to personal values, will read a cherished utopia or a despicable dystopia.
Knowing where are located in the world the zones of influence of transhumanism and what are the reactions it arouses, constitutes an essential informative ingredient of our analysis.
What are we likely to learn?
We can learn what are the benefits of the transhumanist vision and what are its shortcomings. But also and because of the light it sheds, see more clearly what is the utopia and what is the ethics informing it that we may want to subscribe to, and what is therefore our common ground with transhumanism, and whether that common ground is wide or minuscule.
