We Have Always Been Post-Human: Towards a Marxist Account of Post-Humanism

The essentialist view of human nature holds that there is an a priori, non-historical essence to humanity, which is increasingly under the threat of rapidly developing technologies, especially human enhancement technologies. In contrast, the constructivist account of post-humanism asserts that since...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Zhipeng Zhang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-08-01
Series:Computer Sciences & Mathematics Forum
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2813-0324/8/1/14
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Summary:The essentialist view of human nature holds that there is an a priori, non-historical essence to humanity, which is increasingly under the threat of rapidly developing technologies, especially human enhancement technologies. In contrast, the constructivist account of post-humanism asserts that since technology is a constituent component of humanity, there is no such thing as a non-historical kernel to human nature. However, this account lacks a solid foundation of ontology, leading to several theoretical difficulties it cannot overcome. Objective activity, a concept developed by Karl Marx, can be used to establish a non-metaphysical ontology on which a Marxist account of post-humanism can be built with better explanatory power.
ISSN:2813-0324