"Utopian Themes in Transhumanist Thought" is a essay that criticizes transhumanism, calling it a form of utopianism. The author is Michael Hauskeller, an ethicist at the University of Exeter. He has a book coming out soon, "Better Humans? Understanding the Enhancement Project".
Abstract[]
- This paper argues that transhumanism is a form of utopianism. Transhumanist writings are rich with utopian ideas and images that can be traced back to ancient and medieval myths, dreams and hopes. By analysing the former in the light of the latter, I intend to show that the persuasiveness of transhumanist arguments for radical human enhancement crucially depends on their utopian content, and that this seriously undermines transhumanists’ self-proclaimed commitment to critical rationality and, consequently, diminishes the weight that we should give to their arguments.