Future Minds: Transhumanism, Cognitive Enhancement and the Nature of Persons

Abstract: After covering the basic tenets of Transhumanism, I discuss what I take to be the most important philosophical element of the transhumanist picture—its unique perspective on the nature and development of persons. Examining the enhancement issue through the vantage point of the metaphysical problem of personal identity presents a serious challenge to Transhumanism. Indeed, this is a pressing issue for any argument made for or against enhancement.

Transhumanism is a philosophical, cultural, and political movement that holds that the human species is only now in a comparatively early phase and that its very evolution will be altered by developing technologies.1 Future humans will, in effect, be very unlike their current incarnation in both physical and mental capacities and will be more like certain persons depicted in science fiction novels. Transhumanists share the belief that an outcome in which humans have radically advanced intelligence, near immortality, deep friendships with AI (artificial intelligence) creatures, and elective body characteristics is a very desirable end for both one’s own personal development and for the development of our species as a whole.

Despite its science fiction-like flavor, the issues that transhumanism presents deserve to be taken seriously because the beginning stages of this radical alteration are supposed to be the outcome of technological developments that are either here, if not generally available, or more commonly technologies that are accepted by many in the relevant scientific fields as being on their way (Roco & Bainbridge, 2002). In the face of all these technological developments, transhumanists present a thoughtprovoking and highly controversial progressive bioethics agenda. Transhumanism offers intriguing perspectives on (inter alia) one’s conception of the good life, the nature of persons, and the nature of mind.

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(Also forthcoming in The Penn Center Guide to Bioethics, eds. Vardit Ravitsky, Autumn Fiester and Arthur L. Caplan. Springer. 2009.)