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Transhumanism: The Ethics and Technologies of Human Enhancement
James J. Hughes Ph.D.Executive Director, World Transhumanist Association & Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies
Public Policy Studies, Trinity College, Hartford CT
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Today’s Headlines
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Curing Downs and MD
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Advances in Gene Therapy
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Drivers: Emerging Technologies
Tech that will radically change human life:PsychopharmacologyGenetic engineeringNanotechnologyArtificial intelligenceCognitive scienceThe accelerating convergence of all these
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NSF: Nanowiring the Brain
“Neuro-vascular central nervous recording/stimulating system: Using nanotechnology probes,” Rodolfo R. Llinás, Kerry D. Walton, Masayuki Nakao, et al.
“The emergence and policy implications of converging new technologies integrated from the nanoscale ,” M. C. Roco
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To What Ends?
Avoiding disabilitiesHealthLongevity Intelligence Aesthetic preferencesSpiritual goalsEnsuring the best lives for our kids
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Bush Calls for Ban on Cloning, Transgenic Research
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Signs of Emerging Biopolitics
Schiavo, stem cells, reprotech, cloning, Pope’s focus on bioethics
Christian Right vs. libertarians
Progressives and Secularists divided
Why? Biopolitics is new, and cuts
across existing political ideologies
Terri Schiavo’s brain
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20th Century Politics
Progressives
Conservatives
Conservatives Progressives
Populists
Libertarians New Right
Social Democrats
Cultural Politics
Economic Politics
Populists
Libertarians New Right
Social Democrats
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21st Century Politics
Economic Politics
Biopolitics
Progressive
Conservative
Progressive Conservative Cultural Politics
Bioconservatism
Transhumanism
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Biopolitical Battlefronts
Who is a citizen with a right to life?: abortion, stem cells, great ape rights, brain death, chimeras
Control of Reproduction: contraception, abortion, fertility treatments, genetic testing, germline gene therapies, cloning
Fixing Disabilities to “Human Enhancement”: cochlear implants, prosthetics, eye and brain chips, gene therapies, cosmetic procedures
Extending Life: from treatments for aging-related diseases, to anti-aging drugs and therapies
Control of the Brain: Ritalin and Prozac, psychoactive drugs, brain chips
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BioConservatives
Religious Right
CS Lewis The Abolition of Man
Deep Ecologists, Romantic Luddites
Aldous Huxley Brave New World
Jeremy Rifkin Algeny
Left-wing/Feminist Critics of Biotech Gena Corea The Mother Machine
Center for Genetics and Society
Pro-Disability Extremists Not Dead Yet
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2002: BioPolitical Landmark
Leon Kass appointed Chair of President’s Council on Bioethics
Fukuyama’s Our Posthuman Future (2002)
Greg Stock’s Redesigning Humans (2002)
Christian Right’s Manifesto on Biotechnology and Human
Dignity (2002)
Vatican’s "Human Persons Created in the Image of God“ (2002)
Bill McKibben Enough (2003)
PCB’s Beyond Therapy (2003)
Leon Kass
Chair, President’s
Council on
Bioethics
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Christian Right Biocon Network
Millions of dollars poured into “conservative bioethics”
Center for Bioethics and Culture (Jennifer Lahl, Nigel Cameron, Prison Ministries, etc.)
Trinity International University/Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity
Discovery Institute (Wesley J. Smith)
Ethics & Public Policy Center’s BAD (E. Cohen, New Atlantis)
American Enterprise Institute (L. Kass, J.Q. Wilson)
National Catholic Bioethics Center (John Haas)
Hudson Institute (Michael Fumento)
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Bay Area HQ: CBC
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Chicago: Trinity International Univ
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Seattle: Nader & the Culture of Life
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Wash DC: BAD (Beltway Right)
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Opposition to “TechnoSapiens”
Speakers:Christian Right
Chris Hook, CBCWilliam Hurlbut, President’s
Council on BioethicsC. Ben Mitchell, CBHD
“Secular” Conservative BioconsLeon Kass, President’s Council
on Bioethics
Transhumanists Christine Peterson (nano-policy)Nick Bostrom, WTAWrye Sententia (cognitive liberty)
Left BioconservativesLori Andrews, IBHF
CBC organizes Technosapiens Confs•September 2003•October 2004Alerting Christians to transhumanist threat
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IBHF: Building Biocon Alliances
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Leftist Opponents of Biotech
Leftist, feminist and anti-racist opponents of “technoeugenics”
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Deep Ecologists and Luddites
Jeremy Rifkin’s FOET Andrew Kimbrell ETC Foundation on Deep Ecology Anti-GM food groups
Brent Blackwelder, President, Friends
of the Earth
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Pro-Disability Extremists
E.g. Not Dead Yet
Opposed to: Efforts to “cure” or “fix” disabilities
Christopher Reeve
Cochlear implants
Parent’s right to terminate disabled fetuses
The right of sick and disabled to refuse life-sustaining medical treatment
Human enhancement medicine
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What is Transhumanism?
An intellectual and cultural movement that affirms
the possibility and desirability of transcending the limitations of the human body through applied reason
especially by using technology to eliminate aging and enhance human intellectual, physical, and psychological capacities.
Trans-humanists are humanists who emphasize what we have the potential to become through reason.
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Proto-Transhumanists
JP Condorcet and William Godwin – foresaw conquering death as part of utopian programme
HG Wells and Olaf Stapledon– portrayed future evolution of humanity
JBS Haldane, 1923, "Daedalus: Science and the Future“ – in vitro fertilization, genetic engineering
JD Bernal, 1929, "The World, the Flesh and the Devil” – first projection of cybernetic implants
JD Bernal
Jean Condorcet
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“Transhumanism”
Julian Huxley, 1957, coined term "Transhumanism“ - "the human species can transcend itself."
“FM-2030” (FM Esfandiary) popularized term “transhuman” in the 1970s
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90s: Libertarian H+ & Extropians
Extropy Institute http://extropy.org Extropian Principles Extropian email lists
Max More
Reason writer
Ron Bailey
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Transhumanists BioConservativesPersonhood, cyborg citizenship
Human-Racism or deep ecology
Humanism, reason, individual liberty, progress
Sacred taboos, “the natural”, yuck factor, romanticism
Risks are manageable Punishment for hubris inevitable; Tech should be banned
Central Biopolitical Disputes
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Beyond Human-racism…
Human-racism = Humanness as basis of rights-bearing
Humans have souls or crypto-spiritual “human dignity”
Fetus to cremation
Embryonic citizens?
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Race-Mixing Panic
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Racial identity=rights
Universal Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights (UN General Assembly, 1998) “The human genome underlies the
fundamental unity of all members of the human family, as well as the recognition of their inherent dignity and diversity.”
Annas/Andrews Treaty: human enhancement should be “a crime against humanity”
Sorry – no rights!
Is hairlessness one of the genes necessary for citizenship?
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…to Personhood
Persons: “conscious beings, aware of themselves, with intents and purposes over time”
You can be human and not persons: fetus, braindead
You can be a person and not human: great apes, AI, posthumans
Legal personhood confers “right to life” and to technological self-empowerment
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H+ = Radical Human Rights
Personhood, not race, gender or species, defines citizenship
Citizens have a right to control own bodies & brains
Goal of governance should be to help each person fulfill her potential
John Locke
1632-1704
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Technological Self-Determination
The right to use technology to control our own bodies and minds
The right to more life & ability Health care access Cognitive liberty Transgender rights Rights to body modification and
cosmetic enhancement Reproductive rights Rights of disabled to assistive tech
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Bioethicists Moving Towards H+
Religious Right (Schiavo) and Kassites are polarizing bioethicists
Bioethicists becoming more H+ when forced to defend autonomy & technology against religious thugs and yuck factor arguments
Arthur Caplan: “…enhancing intelligence or changing personality or modifying our memory, maybe that should be available to everyone as a guarantee of equal opportunity.”
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Growing H+ Movement
World Transhumanist Associationtranshumanism.org
30 chapters, 3000 members
Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies
ieet.org
Immortality Institute
Terasem Foundation
Betterhumans.com
Foresight Institute
Singularity Inst for AI
KurzweilAI.net
Dr. Nick Bostrom Oxford UniversityWTA & IEET Chair
Nasteho Abdi Jumale
Vice-Chair of WTA-Kenya
Gaurav Gupta
Chair, Indian Society for Transhumanity
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Diversity of H+ Movement
From the March 2005 survey of WTA members
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Constituencies for H+
Disabled seeking assistive tech and cures
Feminists supporting full reproductive rights including germinal choice
Drug law reform advocates supporting deregulated access to neurotechnologies
Scientists & health workers alienated by religious right and Republican restrictions on science
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More Constituencies
LGBT community seeking reproductive options
Tech-friendly ecologists supporting tech solutions to eco-threats
Senior citizens looking for cures for aging-related diseases
Developing countries hoping to use emerging technologies to “leapfrog” to development
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More Constituencies
Animal rights activists advocating a post-speciesist basis for rights
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Technoprogressivism
Core Ideas: Policies needed for accelerating tech change
Liberation: from nature with technology, and from social oppression with democracy
We need equality and solidarity, as well as liberty
Tech needs regulation and universal access
Policies needed to prevent and redress downsides of techno innovation, e.g. Social Security for structural employment
“Techno-Progressives” Technoliberation list:
groups.yahoo.com/groups/technoliberation
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Building H+ Coalitions
H+ Coalition BioCon Coalition
A-TechnoprogressivesB-Libertarian transhumanists
Economic Politics
Biopolitics
Progressive
Conservative
C
A
Progressive Conservative
B
D
Cultural Politics
Bioconservatism
Transhumanism
C-Left bioconservativesD-Right bioconservatives
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Rosa Nel Pugno
May 2006: Socialist-Liberal Party in Italy enters government with transhumanist/technoprogressive caucus
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Biocon Weaknesses
Reproductive RightsHealthcare ReformHuman-racialist
intoleranceTheocratic Ambitions
and Extremism of the Xian Right
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Max Mehlman: Wondergenes
Global ban on genetic enhancement for equality reasons
Mandatory gene testing “like Gattaca”
April 2006: NIH gives Mehlman $770,000 to develop gene enhancement policies
Maxwell Mehlman
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Xian Right Goes to Town
Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity and Baptist Press:
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Transhumanist Conspiracy
Family Research Council:“NIH Slush Fund for Transhumanism”
Concerned Women of America:“…shocked by NIH backing of transhumanist ideology.”
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Mehlman an “H+ Leader”
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IBHF: OK, CGS: Silence
Institute for Biotech and Human Future:reprints Nazi Eugenics accusations
Center for Genetics and Society:Ignores the issue
Mehlman:weary
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Missouri Vote to Ban H+
MO referendum to ban hybrids, cloning, transhumanism and human genetic engineering
Vote Nov 4, 2006
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Tech is not the problem Greed, racism, inequality,
poverty, patriarchy,
authoritarianism, ignorance
and superstition are the
problems
Technology only opens new
battlefronts
The Crossbow was invented to oppress peasants. But it became the perfect tool for knocking knights off horses.
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Universal Access is a Problem
Expand universal access
Universal health insurance coverage, including beneficial enhancements
Research & tech transfer for needs of the developing world
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For more information
World Transhumanist Associationtranshumanism.org
Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologiesieet.org
Betterhumans.com