Book review: What is Posthumanism?

Quick, Tom

doi:10.1177/0952695112444971

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

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“…Posthumanism is also characterized by the demand to abandon a fixed conception of human nature, which it rather sees as in a process of becoming. It is about disclosing the mechanical and animalistic dimension of being human (Quick, 2012). Unlike transhumanism, posthumanism can also be seen within the context of animal rights movements and ecological movements that problematize the position of humans among other beings.…”

Section: Trans-/posthumanismmentioning

confidence: 99%

The perpetual becoming of humanity

Aidnik

2017

History of the Human Sciences

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Growing interest has been shown toward humanism in the 21st century after decades of critique and rejection. Posthumanism and transhumanism have redefined the topic primarily through developments in technology and by focusing on relations of interconnectedness between humans and the environment. A different concern with ‘being human’ can be found in the writings of Zygmunt Bauman and Ernst Bloch. The leitmotif of Bauman’s sociology and of Bloch’s utopian philosophy is their assertion that humans have the distinct capacity to transcend necessity and inevitability. Their works share the concern for a good society that would ameliorate social fragmentation and disintegration. Following this, the article seeks to theorize the meaning of humanism in the contemporary era. Taking up Bauman’s notion of interregnum, the article will argue that the contemporary importance of humanism is social in the sense of redeeming the currently casualized human condition, i.e. diminished life-chances, inequality and alienation. Interregnum marks a historical epoch where the old order has decayed, but the new one is not yet present. In interregnum, or in what Bloch calls Mischzeit, humanism is about a human being-in-the-world which contains the possibility to do better.

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Section: Trans-/posthumanismmentioning

confidence: 99%