Stefan Herbrechter

Posthumanism has established itself as a new paradigm of theory. Like all social discourses, it is a sum of power struggles, subject positions, identities – and thus full of conflict. In this discourse, which includes mainly contemporary and hence techno cultural motifs, but which of course also has a long history, there is no agreement about what the posthuman actually is, that is if it is the best or the worst that could happen to man, to his humanity, to mankind and the humanistic tradition in general. Neither is there agreement as to whether posthumanism is inevitable, already a reality or just a mirage; or whether it is politically, culturally, socially progressive or to the contrary perhaps even regressive; whether it is solely produced by technological change or mainly constructed and thus ideologically motivated. The debate between Stefan Herbrechter and Karin Harrasser explores the reasons for the career of posthumanistic motives as well as related fears and hopes. mehr

This article questions the logic of human self-transcendence and enhancement that underlies all forms of humanism, including transhumanism, as well as the role technology is supposed to play in »improving« human nature and overcoming aggression, violence and self-destruction. It argues, instead, that a critical posthumanist stance has to undertake the deconstruction of the very notion of perfectibility as well as the purely instrumental understanding of technology that usually underlie discussions of human enhancement or »improvement«. Humanism with its inevitable anthropocentrism is unable to address the problem of violence (against humans) as long as it represses the issue of violence against nonhumans animals. The true challenge for a posthumanist politics (and ethics) that seeks to move closer towards the horizon of nonviolence and inter- and intraspecies justice, is to effectuate a fundamental change in attitude towards »our« animality. mehr