Transhumanisme et posthumanisme : de la fiction à la réalité des évolutions

While transhumanism refers to the alteration of human beings through technology, posthumanism is more difficult to define. We may think that posthumanism amounts either to a continuation or a break with humanism. No matter how this is settled, posthumanism today is influenced by the contentment or lack of contentment with respect to human life as it is. Insofar as posthumanism has an important critical dimension-and this is the dimension we'll emphasize here-it is partly fostered by reflections about transhumanist aspirations. As it turns out, some features of transhumanism call for criticism. Transhumanist aspirations have a potential for radicalizing the differences between human beings, and for creating discontinuities between the current experience of human life and what it could become (for some people at least). This evolution is not without risk for freedom because human freedom cannot be abstracted from the relational features of social life. Beyond the physiological transformation of the individual human being - a privileged theme in fiction -, we will insist on the transformations which could be desired, concerning the status of the individual in society. In particular, we think of the transformations induced by the generalization of systems of standards aiming to frame behaviors. We might also consider the routinization of activities which results from their increasing standardization and normative determination. Isn't it the case that this amounts to a kind of purportedly modified humanity – a supposedly improved humanity with respect to the human being's activity, action and creation? Concerning the critical potential of posthumanism –insofar as the latter pays attention to the desired transformations of human life -, we'll inquire whether its development now requires an investigation about the evolving reality of norms (beyond the accompanying reflections about fiction and prospects of the future).