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Humanism

Humanism (belief system)

Secular humanism Religious humanism Christian humanism Humanistic Judaism Posthumanism Neo-humanism Transhumanism Antihumanism List of humanists Politics, sometimes defined as the art and science of government[1], is a process by which collective decisions are made within groups. ... Humanism is a broad category of active ethical philosophies that affirm the dignity and worth of all people, based on our ability to determine what is right using the qualities innate to humanity, particularly rationality. ... Image File history File links Humanism. ... This article discusses Humanism as a non-theistic belief system (the term preferred by most Humanists is life stance). For other uses of the term humanism, please see Humanism. ... Secular humanism is a humanist philosophy that upholds reason, ethics, and justice and specifically rejects rituals and ceremonies as a means to affirm their life stance. ... Religious humanism, is an integration of religious rituals with humanistic philosophy that centers on human needs, interests, and abilities. ... Christian humanism, is a philosophical union of Christian and humanist principles, and like much humanism often refers to a commonality among all humanity as its basic ethos. ... Humanistic Judaism is a movement within Judaism that emphasizes Jewish culture and history, rather than belief in a supernatural god, as the sources of Jewish identity. ... In literary and critical theory, posthumanism, meaning beyond humanism, is a European emergent philosophy and is the dominant secular, rational humanist philosophy. ... // Neo-Humanism (as propounded by P. R. Sarkar) The Indian thinker Prabhat Rainjan Sarkar propounded a in 1982 a theory about human nature and the way for individuals and society to seek the development of their full potentials. ... Posthuman Future, an illustration by Michael Gibbs for The Chronicle of Higher Educations look at how biotechnology will change the human experience. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... This is an incomplete list of Religious and Secular Humanists. ...

History of humanism

Renaissance humanism Humanism in Germany Humanism in France Humanist Manifesto This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... // Origins Humanistic studies were late in finding entrance into Germany. ... Humanism in France found its way from Italy, but did not become a distinct movement until the 16th century was well on its way. ... Humanist Manifesto is the title of three manifestos laying out a humanist worldview published by the American Humanist Association (AHA). ...

Politics Portal · edit

Democratic transhumanism, a term coined by Dr. James Hughes in 2002, refers to the stance of transhumanists (humanists who support morphological freedom and the ethical use of human enhancement technologies) who espouse liberal, social or radical democratic political views. James Hughes Ph. ... For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ... Transhumanism is an emergent school of speculative philosophy analysing or favouring the use of science and technology, especially neurotechnology, biotechnology, and nanotechnology, to overcome human limitations and improve the human condition. ... Humanism is a system of thought that defines a socio-political doctrine (-ism) whose bounds exceed those of locally developed cultures, to include all of humanity and all issues common to human beings. ... Morphological freedom is, according to neuroscientist Anders Sandberg, an extension of one’s right to one’s body, not just self-ownership but also the right to modify oneself according to one’s desires. ... Bioethics is the ethics of biological science and medicine. ... Imtech (Implantable technology) Human enhancement describes any attempt (whether temporary or permanent) to overcome the current limitations of human cognitive and physical abilities, whether through natural or artificial means. ... This article or section is missing references or citation of sources. ... Social democracy is a political ideology emerging in the late 19th and early 20th centuries from supporters of Marxism who believed that the transition to a socialist society could be achieved through democratic evolutionary rather than revolutionary means. ... Direct democracy, classically termed pure democracy[1], comprises a form of democracy and theory of civics wherein sovereignty is lodged in the assembly of all citizens. ...

According to Hughes, the philosophy "stems from the assertion that human beings will generally be happier when they take rational control of the natural and social forces that control their lives." The ethical foundation of democratic transhumanism rests upon rule utilitarianism and non-anthropocentric personhood theory. This article is about the concept. ... Ethics (from Greek ἦθος meaning custom) is the branch of axiology, one of the four major branches of philosophy, which attempts to understand the nature of morality; to distinguish that which is right from that which is wrong. ... This article or section is missing references or citation of sources. ... In literary and critical theory, posthumanism, meaning beyond humanism, is a European emergent philosophy and is the dominant secular, rational humanist philosophy. ... Personhood Theory (Also See Person) Personhood theory addresses the microcosm of lived experience. ...

Hughes aims to encourage democratic transhumanists to unite and influence public policy, and raises objections both to right-wing and left-wing bioconservatism, and libertarian transhumanism. Public policy is a course of action or inaction chosen by public authorities to address a problem. ... In politics, right-wing, the political right, or simply The Right, are terms that refer to the segment of the political spectrum often associated with any of several strains of conservatism, the religious right, and areas of classical liberalism, or simply the opposite of left-wing politics. ... In politics, left-wing, the political left or simply The Left are terms that refer to the segment of the political spectrum typically associated with any of several strains of socialism, social democracy or social liberalism, and defined in contradistinction to its polar opposite, the right. ... Bioconservatism is a stance of hesitancy about biotechnological development especially if it is perceived to threaten a social order. ... Libertarian transhumanism is a political philosophy synthesizing libertarianism and transhumanism. ...

A technorealist form of techno-utopianism, democratic transhumanism can therefore be seen as an anticipatory techno-progressivism. Technorealism is an attempt to expand the middle ground between techno-utopianism and neo-Luddism by assessing the social and political implications of technologies so that people might all have more control over the shape of their future. ... A techno-utopia is an ideal but imaginary community, in which laws, government, and social conditions are solely operating for the benefit and well-being of all its inhabitants, set in the near- or far-future, when advanced science and technology will allow these ideal living standards to exist; for... Futures studies or Futurism reflects on how today’s changes (or the lack thereof) become tomorrow’s reality. ... Techno-progressivism, technoprogressivism, or tech-progressivism (a portmanteau word combining technology-focused and progressivism), is a stance of active support for technological development and social progress. ...

Currents

Hughes has identified 17 currents within democratic transhumanism:

Afrofuturism, or afro-futurism, is an African-American and African diaspora subculture whose thinkers and artists see technology and science-fiction as means of exploring the black experience and finding new strategies to overcome racism and classism. ... Biopunk is a portmanteau word combining biotech and punk. // Science fiction Biopunk is a sub-genre of science fiction which uses elements from the hard-boiled detective novel, film noir, Japanese anime, and post-modernist prose. ... Body modification (or body alteration) is the permanent or semi-permanent deliberate altering of the human body for non-medical reasons, such as spiritual, various social (markings), BDSM edgeplay or aesthetic. ... Cyborg theory was created by Donna Haraway in order to critique traditional notions of feminism. ... Democratic globalization or mundialization is a movement towards an institutional system of global democracy that would give world citizens a say in world organizations. ... Seven of Nine, a Borg in Star Trek: Voyager The term cyborg, a portmanteau of cybernetic organism, is used to designate an organism which is a mixture of organic and mechanical (synthetic) parts. ... The disability rights movement aims to improve the quality of life of people with disabilities. ... LGBT (or GLBT) is an abbreviation used as a collective term to refer to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender people. ... Nanosocialism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... The open source movement is an offshoot of the free software movement that advocates open-source software as an alternative label for free software, primarily on pragmatic rather than philosophical grounds. ... Sociobiology is a synthesis of scientific disciplines that attempts to explain behaviour in all species by considering the evolutionary advantages of social behaviours. ... In politics, left-wing, the political left or simply The Left are terms that refer to the segment of the political spectrum typically associated with any of several strains of socialism, social democracy or social liberalism, and defined in contradistinction to its polar opposite, the right. ... This article or section is missing references or citation of sources. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Automation (ancient Greek: = self dictated) or industrial automation or numerical control is the use of control systems (e. ... Manual labor is a term used for physical work done with the hands, especially in an unskilled manual job such as fruit and vegetable picking, road building, or any other field where the work may be considered hard or arduous, which has as its objective the production of goods. ... A guaranteed minimum income is a proposed system of income redistribution that would give each citizen a certain sum of money independent of whether they work or not. ... Feminism is a diverse collection of social theories, political movements, and moral philosophies, largely motivated by or concerning the experiences of women. ... Technogaianism (a portmanteau word combining techno for technology and Gaia for the Earth Mother of Greek mythology) is the stance that advanced technology can help restore Earths environment, and that developing such technology should therefore be an important goal of environmentalists. ... // General biography FM-2030 was a name adopted by the transhumanist philosopher and futurist Fereidoun M. Esfandiary (October 15, 1930–July 8, 2000?), who professed a deep nostalgia for the future. ... The Viridian design movement is a Green movement tying together ecological design aspects with some love for high-tech gadgets, and some global awareness. ...

List of democratic transhumanists

Ben Hyink serves as the current Transnational Organizer of the Transhumanist Student Network (TSN), which exists under the authority of the World Transhumanist Association (WTA). ... Charles David George Stross (born October 18, 1964) is a science fiction writer based in Edinburgh, Scotland. ... Dale Carrico Ph. ... James Hughes Ph. ... Justice De Thézier at the Ex-Centris Cinema and New Media Complex in Montreal Justice De Thézier (born April 20, 1975) is a Canadian techno-progressive activist and postcyberpunk hipster. ... George Dvorsky is the Deputy Editor of Betterhumans and author of the Transitory Human column. ... Giulio Prisco is the Director of the futurist consulting consortium FutureTag. ... At the 63rd World Science Fiction Convention in Glasgow, August 2005 Ken MacLeod (born August 2, 1954), a Scottish science fiction writer, lives near Edinburgh. ... Mark Alan Walker Ph. ... Martine Aliana Rothblatt Ph. ... Pablo Stafforini is a postgraduate student of philosophy at the University of Oxford and a transhumanist activist notable for having coined the term anarcho-transhumanism in 2003 and written on this political philosophy, and for having co-founded the Abolitionist Society and the Argentine Transhumanist Association. ... Philip Shropshire is an author who writes on popular science and left-wing politics in his alternative culture blog, Three Rivers Online, and other forms of media outlets such as the Betterhumans portal. ... Ramez Naam is a professional technologist who helped create two of the most widely used pieces of software in the world: Microsoft Internet Explorer and Microsoft Outlook. ... Riccardo Campa is assistant professor of sociology at the University of Cracow, where he teaches “sociology of science and technology” and “sociology and psychology of terrorism”. He is the author of Epistemological Dimensions of Robert Merton’s Sociology and Il filosofo è nudo. ... Robin Green is a postgraduate student at University College Dublin in the School of Computer Science and Informatics. ...

See also

A neologism invented by Michel Foucault, the term Biopolitics or Biopolitical can refer to several different yet not incompatible concepts: In the work of Michel Foucault, the style of government that regulates populations through biopower. ... Democratic socialism is a broad political movement propagating the ideals of socialism within the context of a democratic system. ... In literary and critical theory, posthumanism, meaning beyond humanism, is a European emergent philosophy and is the dominant secular, rational humanist philosophy. ... Progressivism is a political philosophy whose adherents promote public policies that they believe would lead to positive social change. ... Since the early 20th century, Radical Left has been used as an umbrella term to describe those on the political left who adhere explicitly and openly to revolutionary socialism, communism, or anarchism. ... (Adapted from the TranSocialist Alliance definition) Transhumanist socialism is a particular type of socialism which holds that future transhumanist technologies such as nanotechnology will make it much more feasible to bring about a truly socialist world. ...

External links

Portals

• Cyborg Democracy

Essays

• Hughes, James (1996). Embracing Change with All Four Arms: A Post-Humanist Defense of Genetic Engineering Eubios Journal of Asian and International Bioethics 6(4), 94-101
• Hughes, James (2002). Politics of Transhumanism 2001 Annual Meeting of the Society for Social Studies of Science
• Hughes, James (2002). Democratic Transhumanism 2.0 Transhumanity
• Hughes, James (2003). Better Health through Democratic Transhumanism Betterhumans.com

Books

• Hughes, James (2004). Citizen Cyborg: Why Democratic Societies Must Respond to the Redesigned Human of the Future. Westview Press. ISBN 0813341981