Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A belief that humans should strive to transcend the physical limitations of the mind and body by technological means.
  • noun A movement of people who espouse such a belief.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun a philosophy favouring the use of science and technology, especially neurotechnology, biotechnology, and nanotechnology, to overcome human limitations and improve the human condition

Etymologies

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Examples

  • What would be truly compelling: a world where "transhumanism" is an accepted practice, individuals do not mistake "existence" with "significance", and the most profound philosophical question is "What purpose do I serve by continuing to live?"

    REVIEW: Blade Runner (The Director's Cut) 2003

  • The word transhumanism consciously evokes the tradition of humanism, i.e. the secular view of man as the "center" of the moral universe.

    Rethinking Alliances 2006

  • Everything that today goes by the name transhumanism is a mistake and a misunderstanding.

    Transhumanism Tusar N Mohapatra 2006

  • It's called transhumanism, or altering the human body through biotechnology.

    WHSV - HomePage - Headlines 2009

  • To the undiluted, unadulterated, uncompromising original core of transhumanism, that is.

    Sentient Developments 2009

  • A philosophy known as transhumanism sees humans taking charge of their evolution and transcending their biological limitations via technology.

    National Geographic News 2009

  • A philosophy known as transhumanism sees humans taking charge of their evolution and transcending their biological limitations via technology.

    National Geographic News 2009

  • Dimitris Yeros Mr. Arakawa and Ms. Gins's work is based loosely on a movement known as "transhumanism," and is premised on the idea that people degenerate and die in part because they live in spaces that are too comfortable.

    Quest For Immortality Hits a Financial Snag 2009

  • The pair's work, based loosely on a movement known as "transhumanism," is premised on the idea that people degenerate and die in part because they live in spaces that are too comfortable.

    Couple's Dreams of Immortality at Death's Door, Thanks to Madoff 2009

  • Recent movements such as transhumanism and abolitionism project a future in which suffering will be transcended with drugs and technology.

    A Conversation with Thomas Ligotti 2007

  • In the book’s most intriguing section, Recuber turns to transhumanism — the idea that, some time in the future, advanced technologies yet to be imagined could enable digital records of the human mind to be uploaded to the Internet.

    How we remember the dead by their digital afterlives Margaret Gibson 2024

  • After studying neuroscience and transhumanism (a futurist movement positing that the human species can evolve through technology) at Albert-Ludwigs University in Freiburg, Germany, and the Georgia Institute of Technology, Elbakyan returned to Kazakhstan, where Internet access was limited, article purchase fees steep, and interlibrary loan periods long.

    Sci-Hub Controversy Triggers Publishers’ Critique of Librarian Lisa Peet 2024

  • Two of the more startling provocations of 12 Bytes are that “transhumanism [a hybrid of human and machine] will be the new mixed-race” – and that, when this future arrives, in questions of “them and us”, Homo sapiens will be the “them”.

    Jeanette Winterson: ‘The male push is to discard the planet: all the boys are going off into space’ Claire Armitstead 2021

  • They form one branch of transhumanism, a movement that holds that human beings can and should use technology to augment and evolve our species.

    How biohackers are trying to upgrade their brains, their bodies — and human nature Sigal Samuel 2019

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  • A term often used as a synonym for "human enhancement", is an international, intellectual and cultural movement supporting the use of science and technology to enhance human mental and physical abilities and aptitudes, and overcome what it regards as undesirable and unnecessary aspects of the human condition, such as disability, suffering, disease, aging and involuntary death. Transhumanist thinkers study the possibilities and consequences of developing and using human enhancement techniques and other emerging technologies for these purposes. (Wikipedia)

    May 20, 2008

  • 21st century eugenics

    March 25, 2009