HUMAN/POSTHUMAN

This presentation wants to consider the Cartesian, Kantian and Hegelian view of the human being, as an absolute, self-certain, unified being, equipped with a positive self-image, and to try and take us away from that view and its inadequacies, and to take us into new perspectives on the understanding of what it means to be human. These new perspectives may take us, hopefully, forward in a more significant way than what used to be the case. A twofold approach is called for. On the one hand the redefinition of humanness in terms of the notion of 'the death of man' will be considered as new theories of human subjectivity have been developed in recent decades by a number of philosophers. On the other hand, the re-description of human being under the impact of electronic media, the emergence of the so-called post-human, or the trans-human as some called it, will be attended to. The difference between these respective "images of man" will be explored together with the implications for inter-human relations. What image of the human person do we encounter here and to what extent does this image differ from the Platonic and Cartesian images in particular? It seems clear that a new social dynamics is suggested by these developments. A rethinking of the ethical, of human fallibility and mortality is unavoidable, especially as it is promoted by those who believe that human consciousness can effectively be downloaded into computers. Would this mean the realisation of a scientific fact, the expression of an ideological rhetoric, or the display of fictional discourse?