Federico Scarpelli

The last of the generations. Eschatology and presentism in the transhumanist movement

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Abstract

Transhumanism – at once a subculture, a movement and a current of thought – is characterised by the wish for the technological enhancement of the human species. It intends to replace the randomness and slowness of Darwinian natural selection with a conscious redesign of humanity on the physical, psychological, and cognitive levels. In this techno-biological philosophy of history, little importance is given to social and cultural aspects, and descriptions of the post-Darwinian transition are often vague and imprecise, while mystical and eschatological images appear with unexpected force. At the same time, the dream of personal immortality is central, which detracts from the importance of the new generations, and produces a kind of futuristic presentism, in which tomorrow resembles the subjects’ present, purged of its frustrating limitations and evils.

Keywords

  • transhumanism
  • post-darwinism
  • quality of life movements
  • technological singularity
  • life extension

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