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Posthumanism: A Guide for the Perplexed: Guides for the Perplexed

Autor Dr Peter Mahon
en Limba Engleză Hardback – 23 feb 2017
In Posthumanism: A Guide for the Perplexed, Peter Mahon gives his readers an overview of posthumanism, examining the intoxicating-and often troubling-entanglements of humans, animals and technology in science, society and culture that constitute its field. Mahon not only explores the key scientific advances in information technology and genetics have made us and society posthuman, but also how certain strands in art (such as science fiction and video games) and philosophy (for example, in the work of Andy Clarke and Jacques Derrida) have played-and continue to play-a crucial role in shaping how we understand those advances. Central to Mahon's analysis of posthumanism is an understanding of technology as a pharmakon-an ancient Greek word for a substance that is both a poison and a cure. In the light of this analysis, Mahon considers our posthuman future, as envisioned by a range of futurists, from Ray Kurzweil to those at the Machine Intelligence Research Institute. What seems clear is that this future will require massive shifts in how we think about ourselves as techno-biological entities, about the benefits and threats of intelligent technologies and about the roles consumerism and universal basic income will play in societies. Posthumanism is our present, our future and a challenge to which we must rise. The book provides a concise and coherent overview of Posthumanism, introducing all the key concepts and themes, and is ideal for undergraduates who require more than just a simple introduction to Posthumanist thought.
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Specificații

ISBN-13: 9781474236799
ISBN-10: 1474236790
Pagini: 354
Dimensiuni: 138 x 216 x 23 mm
Greutate: 0.57 kg
Editura: Bloomsbury Publishing
Colecția Bloomsbury Academic
Seria Guides for the Perplexed

Locul publicării:London, United Kingdom

Descriere

In Posthumanism: A Guide for the Perplexed, Peter Mahon goes beyond recent theoretical approaches to 'the posthuman' to argue for a concrete posthumanism, which arises as humans, animals and technology become entangled, in science, society and culture. Concrete posthumanism is rooted in cutting-edge advances in techno-science, and this book offers readers an exciting, fresh and innovative exploration of this undulating, and often unstable, terrain. With wide-ranging coverage, of cybernetics, information theory, medicine, genetics, machine learning, politics, science fiction, philosophy and futurology, Mahon examines how posthumanism played-and continues to play-a crucial role in shaping how we understand our world. This analysis of posthumanism centers on human interactions with tools and technology, the centrality of science, as well as an understanding of techno-science as a pharmakon-an ancient Greek word for a substance that is both poison and cure. Mahon argues that posthumanism must be approached with an interdisciplinary attitude: a concrete posthumanism is only graspable through knowledge derived from science and the humanities. He concludes by sketching a 'post-humanities' to help us meet the challenges of posthumanism, challenges to which we all must rise.

Posthumanism: A Guide for the Perplexed provides a concise, detailed and coherent exploration of posthumanism, introducing key approaches, concepts and themes. It is ideal for readers of all stripes who are interested in a concrete posthumanism and require more than just a simple introduction.

Cuprins

1 Introduction: Posthumanism-A Dialogue of Sorts
2 Cybernetics, Information, Prosthetics, Genetics Introduction to techno-scientific posthumanism: Trust, but verify Cybernetics and information Neuroprosthetics Genetic manipulations
3 Artificial Intelligences
An (all-too-brief) brief history of artificial intelligence Machine learning: Some basics Google DeepMind's DQN Agent 'I, Hector'
IBM Watson
4 Socio-cultural Posthumanism
The perils of representation (science and technology) Post . . . human: The entanglements of text Signs of life: Self-reflexiveness. . . art . . . posthumanism
5 Philosophical Posthumanism
Animals and robots
Animal . . . human . . . machine: An auto-affective posthumanism Transhumanism and singularity
6 Conclusion: Some Thoughts on Digital Humanities and 'Post-humanities'
Notes
Works Cited
Index

Recenzii

[A] careful analysis ... Like other books in the series, A Guide for the Perplexed, Posthumanism is a rich source of information critically and synthetically considered and presented to the reader in an attractive manner.
Posthumanism - A Guide for the Perplexed is a wide-ranging, informative and engagingly written book on the emergent field of posthuman studies, which challenges traditional humanities scholarship by addressing the processes of digitalization, medicalization, and globalization, as well as contemporary environmental and political challenges like climate change, migration, biopolitics and terrorism. Mahon's book presents and explains difficult philosophical, scientific and technical questions relevant to the current discussion about posthumanism in an accessible manner. It is particularly strong and innovative in its presentation of the scientific and technical discussions about enhancement, information theory, artificial intelligence and biotechnology and how these translate into different philosophical positions on the post- and transhuman.

Notă biografică

Peter Mahon teaches in the Department of English at The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. He is the author of Imagining Joyce and Derrida: Between Finnegans Wake and Glas (University of Toronto Press, 2007).