Humanity 2. 0: What It Means To Be Human Past, Present & Future

Description:
Social thinkers in all fields are faced with one unavoidable question: what does it mean to be 'human' in the 21st century? As definitions between what is 'animal' and what is 'human' break down, and as emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and nano- and bio- technologies develop, accepted notions of humanity are rapidly evolving. Humanity 2.0 is an ambitious and groundbreaking book, offering a sweeping overview of key historical, philosophical and theological moments that have shaped our understandings of humanity. Tackling head on the twin taboos that have always hovered over the scientific study of humanity - race and religion - Steve Fuller argues thar far from disappearing, they are being reinvented. Fuller argues that these new developments will force us to decide which features of our current way of life - not least our bodies - are truly needed to remain human, and concludes with a consideration of these changes for ethical and social values more broadly.

Review:
'This is a brave and interesting book, which combines discourses that should mutually engage, but normally do not: biological and theological discussions of 'humanity', discussions of transhumanism and evolution, and the policy discussions of convergent technology. Connecting them provides an opportunity to rethink the category of the human. Steve Fuller grasps this opportunity with gusto, in an accessible and wide-ranging overview.' - Professor Stephen Turner, University of South Florida, USA 'Humanity 2.0 offers an wide-ranging and timely account of the next stage of technoscience: the development of a new stage of humanity. Fuller bridges the concerns of science studies and science policy, exploring the historical and philosophical currents underlying the creation of a new biotechnological species, and highlights how the technoscientific industrial complex seeks to construct a new humanity as both product and consumer.' - Robert Frodeman, Director, Center for the Study of Interdisciplinarity, University of North Texas, USA

Table of Contents:
Introduction: What is Humanity 2.0? Humanity Poised Between Biology and Ideology Defining the Human: The Always Ready - Or Never To Be - Object of the Social Sciences? A Policy Blueprint for Humanity 2.0: The Converging Technologies Agenda A Theology 2.0 for Humanity 2.0: Thinking Outside the Neo-Darwinian Box Conclusion: In Search of Humanity 2.0's Moral Horizon - Or, How to Suffer Smart in the 21st Century

Author Biography:
STEVE FULLER is Professor of Sociology at the University of Warwick, UK. He is author of eighteen books including Dissent over Descent: Intelligent Design's Challenge to Darwinism, Kuhn vs Popper: The Struggle for the Soul of Science, The Intellectual and Science vs Religion? Intelligent Design and the Problem of Evolution. His work has been translated into twenty languages.