2. Ethical Issues

The transhumanism debate has also sparked an ethical discussion bordering bioethics, animal ethics and environmental ethics. According to Dvorsky for instance, uplifting the human biology must also include the uplifting of the capacities of other animals.

On ethical grounds, bioethicists have argued that there should be a consideration of what kind of humans there should be for human enhancement wo be ethical. All the proposed methods of human enhancement, including germ-line genetic modifications, have not satisfied all sets of ethical issues in question.

Some ethical concerns involve specific identifiable stakeholders while others are more general. For instance, one may need to refer to the doctors’ professional code of conduct if they are questioning the ethics of a doctor conducting enhancement on a patient. They may also want to interrogate the doctor’s moral conscience. If questioning whether a procedure like germ-line enhancement is moral, then one should appeal more to the patient’s and their relatives’ interests, and perhaps the society by extension.

In this debate, it is important to distinguish between what is moral and what is ethical. This has been a bone of contention in human enhancement as these two are often mixed up. Usually, ethical issues should be discussed in the context of a specific community, such as the ethical code informing doctors’ professional practice. Morality borders more on values, in which case there may not be many codes to refer to.

 

3. The Authenticity Debate

The authenticity question is common when it comes to matters transhumanism. It is commonly argued that the means by which someone achieves their life goals is an important factor to consider.

Proponents of this arguments argue that if one uses a technological shortcut to achieve a goal, its value may be compromised. For instance, if someone uses a vehicle to complete a marathon, the value of completing the marathon is completely undermined. Additionally, we might even conclude that the individual didn’t run a race at all.

If a life is lived through any form of enhancement which corrupts the sense of individualism or community, then one may argue that such a life is less fulfilling and less meaningful. The same can be said for the accumulation of wealth, if that was done with impropriety.

This is not to say that transhumanism is completely meaningless, or that it is not worth living. It just means that human enhancement may not bring the kind of satisfaction its proponents so desire because living an enhanced life may not be fulfilling after all.

 

In Conclusion

Transhumanism is a huge philosophy in the field of human enhancement. It pushes for the enhancement of human beings and the quality of their lives by leveraging emergent technologies.

The post human era, if at all transhumanism would be successful, embodies humans who are exceptionally more intelligent, stronger, and healthier than the current human. In our current context, a post human is a superhuman with over-the-roof capabilities and capacities.

Transhumanism has however sparked a fierce conversation around its implications and disadvantages to the human race. As we have tried to elaborate, some of these include conversations around the authenticity of a life status attained by the help of technology. There are also several ethical issues at stake if human enhancement would take place. Some people also worry that the personhood of humans will possibly be lost to transhumanism. It is not possible to monitor the conduct of every individual, however, caution must be observed when handling such sensitive matters, even at an individual level.…

The concept of personhood is one of the biggest challenges within transhumanism. Renowned philosopher and cognitive scientist Dr. Susan Schneider postulates that when one considers radically enhance transhumanism, one must ask if the radically enhanced creature will still be them. Will a human being with a computerized neural interface still be a human being?

After such radical changes, would you still have a relation to the person you were before enhancement? If you won’t, many argue, then human enhancement isn’t valuable to you. Transhumanism would therefore be leading you to the path of demise. You will cease to exist.

What is Personhood?

Remember that the goal of transhumanism is a post-human state. These possible future beings, as envisioned, are an embodiment of capacities that exceed those of the current humans.

A post-human can be ‘installed’ into a computer or uploaded into a cyborg. Transhumanism can be seen as reducing the self to neurological connections that capture the “patterns” of the mind and imputing them into any medium as you would an operating system. In scientific terms, this is called the computational theory of the mind.

It can be argued that the computational configuration of the brain is what makes up the person. Your memories, attitudes, values, and emotions are the pieces of information that make you, you.

Is being a human being simply being a “program”? If the computational theory holds to be true, does it allow for human enhancement while maintaining the survival of the person?

Computational theory confuses the patterns that can be mapped in the human brain with the brain itself. It reduces the brain to an overly simplistic model. This is not a true representation of the human brain.

The Downsides of Human Enhancement

1. The Flaws in Human Nature

Transhumanism does not handle the reality of evil. Leaving out evil in the human enhancement discussion makes the subscribers to this idea oblivious to their individualism. It is also a wedge that would eventually cause a separation from the community.

Evil has great religious and philosophical implications that if not handled, transhumanism stands very little chance of succeeding.

Human enhancement could lead to great problems in the future. Human beings have proven over time that even if they are fulfilled, they can still cause destruction and are capable of doing unimaginable evil.

In a nutshell, transhumanism can make humans smarter, stronger, and healthier, but on the other hand increase further the human capacity to do evil. Even if that’s not the case, there is no guarantee that the post-human will not be evil.…

Transhumanism is an intellectual movement that has developed over the past two decades. It advocates for the enhancement of the human condition and organisms through the use of emerging technologies. The end goal is to enhance human longevity and cognition.

This school of thought explores existing technologies like genetic engineering and information technology. It also relies on anticipated future technologies such as artificial intelligence and nanotechnology.

What Does Transhumanism Entail?

The human enhancement options under exploration by the transhumanism movement include;

• Eradication of disease
• A boost in human intellect
• An exorbitant improvement in human health and lifespan
• An expansion of the physical and emotional prowess of humans

Other transhumanist ideas include the prospect of creating intelligent machines, together with other technological developments that have the potential of extensively affecting the human condition. Transhumanist ideas go beyond the creation of technological gadgets and medicine. They also include psychological, social, and cultural developments.

Transhumanists believe that human nature is not perfect in its current state, and we can improve it as we desire. The current human nature does not necessarily need to be the endpoint of evolution. In brief, transhumanists believe that, with the responsible use of technology, we can become post-human with more robust capabilities and capacities than current humans.

The Post-Human Realm

The range of thoughts, feelings, and genetic predispositions accessible to humans is probably a tiny proportion of the possibilities available. We cannot assume, for instance, that the mode of being a cheetah has more limitations than the state of being a human. Cheetahs cannot understand what it is like to be human. We, too, cannot fully understand what it is like being post-human.

Transhumanism promises possibilities whose allures no human being has experienced yet. We can only imagine humans that reach a greater level of development than current human beings.  do because they have the ability to live very long with their bodies functioning optimally.

We can only imagine beings that can create a machine that we can only understand shallowly. If you were to perceive them, you’d probably envision beings that embody these qualities;

• Extremely smart, and able to create solutions to problems we would sweat attempting to solve
• Can comprehend and synthesize exorbitantly large volumes of information
• Very long lifespan with bodies working optimally throughout
• Humans with perfect ideals. If they were to love, their love would be of the purest form

The possibilities are endless!

While we can surmount some of our biological limitations, some aren’t transcendable. This may not necessarily be due to technological limitations, but it could be due to metaphysical reasons. While certain modes of living may be comprehensible to us, they may not be possible for humans. The paragon may be so different from us that they would in no way be us.…