“Post humanism” is a term that means “beyond humanism” or “after humanism” and it has almost seven different meanings according to one of the great philosophers of the twenty first century named Francesca Ferrando. In one of his definitions, he said that Post humanism is any theory that is critical of traditional humanism and the traditional ideas about humanity and the condition of humans which he associated with “antihumanism”. He also mentioned it as a branchof theory of culture that is very critical of the assumptions made right from the foundation of humanism and its legacies. This he said questions and examines the historical notions of “human” and “the nature of human” which often confronts the typical notions of human subjectivity and its embodiments and thus strives to move beyond old-fashioned concepts of “human nature” to develop ones which constantly adapt to contemporary knowledge in science and technology (Francesca, 2013). However, he didn’t stop at defining post humanism but went further to point to us that it is a philosophical direction which draws on cultural post humanism in which such philosophical strands examine the ethical implications of expanding the circle of moral concerns and thereby extending subjectivities beyond the scope of the species of humans. Furthermore, he points out that post humanism is an ideology and movement which seeks to develop and make the technologies available which eliminates aging and greatly enhance the intellectual, physical and psychological capacities of humans in order to achieve a post human future.
A very good example of the way he defined post humanism is found in the book “Oryx and “Your friend is intellectually honourable,” Jimmy’s mother would say. “He doesn’t lie to himself.” Then she’d gaze at Jimmy with that blue-eyed, wounded-by-him look he knew so well. If only he could be like that – intellectually honourable. Another baffling item on the cryptic report card his mother toted around in some mental pocket, the report card on which he was always just barely passing. Jimmy would do better at intellectual honourableness if only he would try harder. Plus, if he had any fucking clues about what the fuck it meant. “I don’t need supper,” he’d tell her yet again. “I’ll just grab a snack.” If she wanted. Her effort was geared towards developing the intellectual capacity of her son as can be seen in the way she addressed his friend in her expressing of wish in this word that is intellectual honourableness. This is related to one of the definitions of Francesca Ferrando. Jimmy’s strived to ensure that her son became acquainted to developing his intellectual, physical and psychological capacities like that of his friend. Another example is the one in the book “Frankenstein”. After two years I had discovered many things and I built a scientific machine that was better than anything in the university. My machine would help me answer the most important question of all. How does life begin? Is it possible to put life into dead things? To answer these questions about life I had to learn first about death. I had to watch bodies from the moment when they died and the warm life left them. In the hospital and in the university, I watched the dying and the dead. Day after day, month after month, I followed death. Crake” as can be seen in the way Jimmy’s mother addressed her son, It was a dark and terrible time. Then one day, the answer came to me. Suddenly I was sure that I knew the secret of life.
REFERENCES
- Ferrando, Francesca. “Posthumanism, Transhumanism, Antihumanism, Metahumanism, and New Materialisms: Differences and Relations” (PDF). ISSN 1932-1066. Retrieved 2014-03-14.
- Jump up^ J. Childers/G. Hentzi eds., The Columbia Dictionary of Modern Literary and Cultural Criticism (1995) p. 140-1
- Wolfe, C. ‘What is Post humanism?’ University of Minnesota Press. Minneapolis, Minnesota. 2009
- Frankenstein by Mary Shelley published online https://www.goodreads.com/ebooks/download/35031085-frankenstein
- Atwood, Margaret Eleanor. “Oryx and Crake.” Library of Congress Cataloging-in- Publication Data, 1939. 1st ed
