Free Downloads Eclipse Of Man: Human Extinction And The Meaning Of Progress
Tomorrow has never looked better. Breakthroughs in fields like genetic engineering and nanotechnology promise to give us unprecedented power to redesign our bodies and our world. Futurists and activists tell us that we are drawing ever closer to a day when we will be as smart as computers, will be able to link our minds telepathically, and will live for centuries—or maybe forever. The perfection of a “posthuman” future awaits us.Or so the story goes. In reality, the rush toward a posthuman destiny amounts to an ideology of human extinction, an ideology that sees little of value in humanity except the raw material for producing whatever might come next.In Eclipse of Man, Charles T. Rubin traces the intellectual origins of the movement to perfect and replace the human race. He shows how today’s advocates of radical enhancement are—like their forebears—deeply dissatisfied with given human nature and fixated on grand visions of a future shaped by technological progress.Moreover, Rubin argues that this myopic vision of the future is not confined to charlatans and cheerleaders promoting this or that technology: it also runs through much of modern science and contemporary progressivism. By exploring and criticizing the dreams of post humanity, Rubin defends a more modest vision of the future, one that takes seriously both the limitations and the inherent dignity of our given nature.
Hardcover: 200 pages
Publisher: Encounter Books (September 2, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1594037361
ISBN-13: 978-1594037368
Product Dimensions: 1 x 6.8 x 9.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #303,619 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #28 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Politics & Government > Ideologies & Doctrines > Utopian #135 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Philosophy > Criticism #216 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Philosophy > Movements > Humanism
This book describes how modern genetic science is creating a new and revolutionary scenario for mankind’s future--a trans-humanist future that reads at first like science fiction until you realize how close we already are to the biological manipulation of human beings.It is certainly a blessing to give amputees the use of wondrous new artificial limbs, to restore sight with a miraculous lens, and to transplant hearts and kidneys. But the trans-humanists see a greater and expanded opportunity to perfect all humans--major enhancements including adjustments to even the brains that make us tick. To these thinkers, we are all the “weeds” that Margaret Sanger wanted to replace with more perfect specimens.Modern medicine will sooner or later make such manipulation feasible. Charles T. Rubin warns us that “the more one thinks about how much better we could do if we designed our own bodies, the more dissatisfied we are likely to be with the present model.” After all, manipulating nature has been mankind’s forte since we emerged from the Stone Age. We can finally put evolution under our own control, not just to improve the natural environment, but to improve our own capabilities. The million-dollar man is right around the corner!However, there is a downside to such extreme tampering with life as we know it. The author points out that “progressive” idealists could use these new biological methods to “manage” the people in today’s democracies. These activists see themselves as superior, the smartest, with the purest objectives, and therefore entitled to regulate everyone else’s conduct. And, after almost 100 years of the welfare state, and the decline in marriages and families, there is a growing class of citizens who actually need regular assistance and direction.
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