Transhumanism

From Ancestors to Avatars

Jennifer Huberman

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781108876285
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Cultural & Social Anthropology
• Index: Social Sciences

Transhumanists argue that science and technology will enable us to overcome our biological limitations, both mental and physical, and create a radically enhanced posthuman species and society. In this book, Jenny Huberman examines the values and visions animating the Transhumanist Movement in the United States today, whilst at the same time using the study of transhumanism as a way to introduce a new generation of students to the discipline of cultural anthropology. She explores transhumanist conceptions of revitalization, immortality, the good life, the self, the body, kinship and economy, and compares them to the belief systems of human beings living in other times and places. Providing lively ethnographic insights into a fascinating contemporary socio-cultural movement, this book will be invaluable to students and researchers in anthropology, as well as anyone interested in the phenomenon of transhumanism.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half title
• Series page
• Title page
• Copyright information
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction: Thinking through Transhumanism
• 1. Is Transhumanism a Revitalization Movement?
• 2. Ancestors and Avatars: Immortality Transformed
• 3. Happily Ever After: Transhumanism and the Hedonistic Imperative
• 4. The Social Skin, the Antisocial Skin, and the Pursuit of Morphological Freedom
• 5. Decoding the Self
• 6. Rethinking Kinship Systems
• 7. From Original Affluence to Posthuman Abundance
• Conclusion: Back to the Future: Reflections on a Discipline and a Movement
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index