Humanism and its Discontents

This book explains that while posthumanism rose in opposition to the biblicalcontention that 'Man was created in the image of God', transhumanismascertained the complementary view that 'Man has been assigned dominion overall creatures', further exploring a path that had been opened up by theEnlightenment's notion of human perfectibility. It explains also how posthumanism and transhumanism relate to deconstructiontheory, and on a broader level to capitalism, libertarianism, and the fight againsthuman extinction which may involve trespassing the boundary of the skin,achieving individual immortality or dematerialization of the Self and colonisationof distant planets and stars. Two authors debate about truth and reason in today's world,the notion of personhood and the legacy of the Nietzschean Superhuman in thecurrent varieties of anti-humanism.