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Australian philosopher, literary critic, legal scholar, and professional writer. Based in Newcastle, NSW. My latest books are THE TYRANNY OF OPINION: CONFORMITY AND THE FUTURE OF LIBERALISM (2019); AT THE DAWN OF A GREAT TRANSITION: THE QUESTION OF RADICAL ENHANCEMENT (2021); and HOW WE BECAME POST-LIBERAL: THE RISE AND FALL OF TOLERATION (2024).

Friday, March 20, 2009

New articles at Journal of Evolution and Technology

The Journal of Evolution and Technology has published new articles by Stefan Lorenz Sorgner and Austin Corbett.

In "Nietzsche, the Overhuman, and Transhumanism", Sorgner argues that there are significant similarities between transhumanism's concept of the posthuman and the Nietzschean concept of the overhuman. He compares these two concepts, focusing more on their similarities than their differences (by contrast to an earlier discussion by Nick Bostrom). At the same time, he seeks to identify a dimension of Nietzsche's though that is lacking in transhumanism.

"Beyond Ghost in the (Human) Shell" , by Austin Corbett deals with the image of the cyborg, drawing on the work of Donna Haraway. In the light of this, Corbett examines the discourses of humanity, modernity, Japan, and technology. He traces the early history of the cyborg through to modern conceptions in Haraway's work and elsewhere, then examines the idea in the Ghost in the Shell mythos, particularly Kenji Kamiyama’s 2002-2003 TV series Kōkaku Kidōtai Sutando Arōn Konpurekkusu (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex).

These articles illustrate the breadth of JET's cross-disciplinary interests in a topics that illuminate the human or posthuman future.

8 comments:

Steve Zara said...

Have you come across Dougal Dixon's "Man After Man: An Anthropology of the Future"?

Dixon has published popular speculative "zoologies of the future". I wonder what the current mainstream views of his ideas are.

Russell Blackford said...

No, I'll look out for it, but don't know anything about it.

Coathangrrr said...

Those are some interesting papers. Do you know if Sorgner's use of Leibniz has precedent in the literature on Nietzsche or if it is something he came up with outside of that literature? I hadn't heard of the monad/power quanta idea before.

Coathangrrr said...

Oops, I guess I should check the references before asking questions like that.

Russell Blackford said...

lol, no worries.

Russell Blackford said...

Although, that said, I don't know whether it has previously been discussed by anyone other than Stefan in his book. I guess Sorgner (2007) is the place to find out.

Anonymous said...

It is extremely interesting for me to read the article. Thank author for it. I like such topics and anything connected to them. I definitely want to read more soon.

Anonymous said...

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