copyright institute for ethics and emerging technologies 2005 democratic transhumanism and the...

Copyright Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies 2005

Democratic Transhumanism and the Emerging Biopolitics

James J. Hughes Ph.D.Executive Director, World Transhumanist Association & Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies

Public Policy Studies, Trinity College, Hartford CT

[email protected]


Signs of Emerging Biopolitics

Schiavo, stem cells, reprotech, Pope’s focus on bioethics

Christian Right vs. libertarians

Progressives and Secularists divided

Why? Biopolitics is new, and cuts

across existing political ideologies


20th Century PoliticsThe Political Terrain of the 20th Century

Progressives

Conservatives

Conservatives Progressives Cultural

Economic

Populists

Libertarians New Right

Social Democrats

Progressives

Conservatives

Conservatives Progressives Cultural Politics

Economic Politics

Populists

Libertarians New Right

Social Democrats


21st Century PoliticsThe Political Space of the 21st Century

Economic Politics

Biopolitics

Progressive

Conservative

Progressive Conservative Cultural Politics

BioLuddism

Transhumanism


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


Drivers: Emerging Technologies

Tech that will radically change human life:PsychopharmacologyGenetic engineeringNanotechnologyArtificial intelligenceCognitive scienceThe accelerating convergence of all these


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


BioConservatives/BioLuddites

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


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


Christian Right Biocon Network

Millions of dollars being 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)


IBHF: Building Biocon Alliances


Leftist Opponents of Biotech

Leftist, feminist and anti-racist opponents of “technoeugenics”


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


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


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.


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


“Transhumanism”

Julian Huxley, 1957, coined term "Transhumanism“ - "the human species can transcend itself."

“FM-2030” (FM Esfandiary) popularized term “transhuman” in the 1970s


90s: Libertarian H+ & Extropians

Extropy Institute http://extropy.org Extropian Principles Extropian email lists

Max More

Reason writer

Ron Bailey


Transhumanists BioConservativesPersonhood, cyborg citizenship

Human-Racism or mysanthropy/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


Beyond Human-racism…

Human-racism = Humanness as basis of rights-bearing

Humans have souls or crypto-spiritual “human dignity”

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”

Embryonic citizens?


…to Personhood

Is hairlessness one of the genes necessary for citizenship?

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


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


Technological Self-Determination

The right to use technology to control our own bodies and minds

The right to more life and ability Health care access

Cognitive liberty

Transgender rights

Right to body modification and cosmetic enhancement

Reproductive rights

Right of disabled to assistive tech


Bioethicists Moving Towards H+

Religious Right (Schiavo) and Kassites are polarizing and scaring bioethicists

They are becoming more H+ as they are forced to defend autonomy & technology against religious thuggery and nonsensical 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.”


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

Dr. Nick Bostrom Oxford UniversityWTA & IEET Chair

Nasteho Abdi Jumale

Vice-Chair of WTA-Kenya

Gaurav Gupta

Chair, Indian Society for Transhumanity


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 Human rights activists supporting a

right to bodily autonomy Scientists & health workers alienated by

growing religious right restrictions 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 Animal rights activists advocating a post-speciesist basis for rights


Growing Diversity of H+

From the March 2005 survey of WTA members

Religion

Religious or spiritual

Secular, atheist

Other/DK

Atheist, Agnostic, Secular humanist 63%

Spiritual, Buddhist, Protestant, Religious

humanist, Catholic, Pagan, Unitarian-

Universalist, Hindu etc.

25%

Other 13%


Democratic Transhumanism

Core Principles: We liberate ourselves from nature through technology, and from social oppression through democracy

Core values: liberty, but also equality and solidarity

Tech needs regulation and universal access Public policy needed to prevent and redress

downsides of tech innovation, e.g. BIG for structural employment


Building H+ Coalitions

Ideological Positions in the 21st Century

Economic Politics

Biopolitics

Progressive

Conservative

C

A

Progressive Conservative

B

D

Cultural Politics A- Democratic transhumanism B- Libertarian transhumanism C- Left bioLuddism D- Right bioLuddism

BioLuddism

Transhumanism

H+ Coalition BioCon Coalition


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.


Universal Access is a Problem

Expand universal access

Universal health insurance coverage, including beneficial enhancements

Research & tech transfer for needs of the developing world

clean water, telecom, vaccines, immune tweaks, nano, GM crops

Toronto Bioethics Centre’s reports on genetics and nano for the developing world


For more information

World Transhumanist Associationtranshumanism.org

Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologiesieet.org

Betterhumans.com

Me: [email protected]

copyright institute for ethics and emerging technologies 2005 democratic transhumanism and the...

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