O'Brien, David (2022) What is the human being, and what is our place in the Cosmos? Max Scheler's The Human Place in the Cosmos as a response to transhumanism, the technological singularity, and post-biological evolution. PhD thesis, National University of Ireland Maynooth.

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Abstract

n a 1926 essay entitled, ‘Mensch und Geschichte’ (‘Man and History’), German philosopher Max Scheler (1874-1928) argued that the preeminent and most pressing philosophical task of his era was the issue of Philosophical Anthropology, i.e., the problem of the human being. This doctoral thesis aims to show that this issue is a concern that is as relevant now as it was when Scheler was writing. The problematic character of human experience is thus explored in light of the recent and ongoing developments of late-modern technology. Developments that promise a solution to a multitude of human problems – the age-old issue of our biological finitude being paramount amongst them. Such sentiments find their purest contemporary expression within the philosophy of transhumanism and the associated narratives of human enhancement, post-biological evolution, and the concept of the Technological Singularity. The question of human nature is a perennial issue; human reflection on the human condition is a defining feature of our lived experience. Themes of post-humanity and post- biology have long been explored within the realm of science fiction, now they have become the practical concern of engineers and technologists, Hence, science fiction now deigns to intrude into the realm of science fact. In our time, the idea of post-biological evolution, the design paradigm of NBIC-convergence, and transhumanism – as a philosophy and a cultural movement – all confront and confound traditional notions of human nature. But unlike previous challenges to accepted and established images of the human being, this re- assessment of human nature has a practical aspect – for technology now seems poised to finally achieve the age-old aspiration of human control over human nature. Since there is no single and uncontested definition of the human being, let alone consensus on how to define the post-human, first and foremost we have a question of Philosophical Anthropology: What is the human being and what is our place in the cosmos? As such, Scheler’s Philosophical Anthropology serves as a response to the philosophical challenge of transhumanism and post-biological evolution.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Keywords:	human being; Cosmos; Max Scheler; The Human Place in the Cosmos; response to transhumanism; technological singularity; post-biological evolution;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Arts & Humanities > Philosophy
Item ID:	16920
Depositing User:	IR eTheses
Date Deposited:	07 Feb 2023 12:50
URI:
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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