TRANSHUMANISM AND LIMITS OF ENHANCEMENT

Abstract

Transhumanism with its notion of evolutionary humanism questions the more traditional understanding of human nature as a constant and fixed reality. Transhumanism maintains that the frontiers of human condition can always be expanded for a posthuman to emerge. This implies a movement from what has been described as humanity 1.0 to humanity 2.0. In this movement, propelled by the idea of morphological freedom, made possible by burgeoning technological advancements, humans can be progressively and comprehensively enhanced to surpass human finitude and contingencies. This position can be philosophically disquieting as it grapples with what the dire consequences of unmitigated enhancement in the light of evolutionary humanism wrought by technology would amount to for both the individual, the society and humanity at large. The present work, using the method of hermeneutics, while acknowledging that human nature could be amorphous or at best slippery in its conceptualization, and recognizing the difficulty in determining at what point human nature is essentially altered, argues for a limit in the degree of enhancement as it raises objection to the idea of unmitigated morphological freedom. The basic argument is that while human condition can be enhanced, it must be moderated by the idea of an essence lest man tows the path of self-destruct. To enhance without limit is to enhance without end and such has a destructive consequence for the notions of equality and morality which are the bedrock of the society. The work concludes by maintaining that at every point in time the idea of man as a moral being and the value of human condition must always be considered in determining what constitutes a genuine human life.