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

Copyright Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies 2005

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

[email protected]


Today’s Headlines


Curing Downs and MD


Advances in Gene Therapy


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


To What Ends?

Avoiding disabilitiesHealthLongevity Intelligence Aesthetic preferencesSpiritual goalsEnsuring the best lives for our kids


Bush Calls for Ban on Cloning, Transgenic Research


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


20th Century Politics

Progressives

Conservatives

Conservatives Progressives

Populists

Libertarians New Right

Social Democrats

Cultural Politics

Economic Politics

Populists

Libertarians New Right

Social Democrats


21st Century Politics

Economic Politics

Biopolitics

Progressive

Conservative

Progressive Conservative Cultural Politics

Bioconservatism

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


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


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 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)


Bay Area HQ: CBC


Chicago: Trinity International Univ


Seattle: Nader & the Culture of Life


Wash DC: BAD (Beltway Right)


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


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 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”

Fetus to cremation

Embryonic citizens?


Race-Mixing Panic


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?


…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


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 & ability Health care access Cognitive liberty Transgender rights Rights to body modification and

cosmetic enhancement Reproductive rights Rights of disabled to assistive tech


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.”


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


Diversity of H+ Movement

From the March 2005 survey of WTA members


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


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


More Constituencies

Animal rights activists advocating a post-speciesist basis for rights


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


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


Rosa Nel Pugno

May 2006: Socialist-Liberal Party in Italy enters government with transhumanist/technoprogressive caucus


Biocon Weaknesses

Reproductive RightsHealthcare ReformHuman-racialist

intoleranceTheocratic Ambitions

and Extremism of the Xian Right


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


Xian Right Goes to Town

Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity and Baptist Press:


Transhumanist Conspiracy

Family Research Council:“NIH Slush Fund for Transhumanism”

Concerned Women of America:“…shocked by NIH backing of transhumanist ideology.”


Mehlman an “H+ Leader”


IBHF: OK, CGS: Silence

Institute for Biotech and Human Future:reprints Nazi Eugenics accusations

Center for Genetics and Society:Ignores the issue

Mehlman:weary


Missouri Vote to Ban H+

MO referendum to ban hybrids, cloning, transhumanism and human genetic engineering

Vote Nov 4, 2006


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


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 transhumanism : the ethics and...

Documents

human life

brain death

new technologies

vaticans human persons

germline gene therapies

chair of presidents

trinity college

christian right chris