CC BY
52
Perspectives of Science & Education. 2015. 4 (16)
International Scientific Electronic Journal ISSN 2307-2334 (Online)
Available: psejournal.wordpress.com/archive15/15-04/ Accepted: 16 August 2015 Published: 1 September 2015 No. 4 (16). pp. 34-36.
L. Terec-Vlad
*
Human limits in transhumanism. Communicative action as a way of annihilating the human limits
Introduction
ranshumanism can be defined as: the idea that humans can use reason in order to transcend the limit of the human condition (Hughes, J., 2004). Transhumanism proposes the elimination of the human individual's biological limits by using the new technologies in order to achieve a better quality of life and, why not, eternal life, by eliminating the undesirable aspects such as death, ageing, diseases, physical or psychological deficiencies, which are considered limits in the way of happiness. However, in order to talk about limits, we must first perform an overview of the concept. In our society, the limit is considered to be that real or imaginary line which marks an area or the separation of two entities, or which separates two territories, whether it is a physical or symbolic line (http://definicion.de/limite/). The concept of limit is frequently used in our vocabulary whereas it is linked to the concept of democracy, ethics or morality. Violating the moral limits leads to religious sanctions, violating the limits of democracy leads to judiciary sanctions and violating the ethical limits leads to deontological sanctions. Therefore, we live in a society where we are told what to do and how to do it in order not to infringe the other individuals' freedom.
We believe that the human being is constrained both socially and biologically, whereas all its actions must fall within certain parameters that are acceptable in terms of the culture or the society to which it belongs. Therefore, it is believed that man is determined by a certain limit, and the limit of the human being is generated by its hatred of doubt and uncertainty, although doubt is primordial (Ga§parel, C., 2006). All the actions of the human individual are constrained so that he does not infringe the freedom of the others, whereas violence can lead to the violation of the other individuals' rights (Lenta, O., Cormos, C., 2014).
The biological functions of the human individual are limited, and so is human knowledge; recent studies show that the individual uses a maximum of 10% of his brain capacity.
In this paper we aim to analyse the biological limits of the human individual and the limits of knowledge, as well as the way they can be overcome within transhumanism, and the communicative action as a form of eliminating the limits.
Preliminaries
Through knowledge man lies between transcendence and immediate; however, human knowledge is believed to be limited, just like the biological one. Human knowledge is limited, which is precisely why man seeks to know more.
Defined as the reflection of an existing reality into the consciousness, in philosophy knowledge belongs to epistemology; there are three types of knowledge: practical knowledge, factual knowledge and knowledge through contact. The act of knowledge is considered to be a relationship established between two entities: on the one hand, the object of knowledge and on the other hand the knowing subject. Man is the only being who can generate ideas or concepts through his mental structures and functions; subsequently, they can be transmitted through language and man is that being which is able to discover the truth of the theories and ideas, whereas he possesses rationality, memory, motivation, willpower, etc. In this paper we aim to analyse the biological limits of the human individual and hence the limits of knowledge, whereas along with the transformation and enhancement of the human being we will be talking about singularity as the ultimate form of self-transcendence and about enhancement as a form of negating the limits.
Overcoming the biological limits
Regarding the biological limits of the beings, Ohio geneticists have managed to develop a mouse whose physical abilities are superior compared to its counterparts of the same species. The case was discussed by Julian Savulescu, who believed that throughthetechnologiesregardingtheenhancement of the genome we can improve the human being and we can hence overcome the biological and evolutional constraints of the homo sapiens species (Savulescu, 2007, a). The enhancement of the mouse was a big step for science, whereas they discovered that the physical condition can be improved through the new technologies, in accordance with the needs and requirements of each individual as a member of a certain society. Enhancement does not only mean adding elements, given that these additions may not be useful to the individual. Julian Savulescu (2002) provides the example of a deaf lesbian couple who
R'This work has been supported through the project "Interdisciplinary excellence in the doctoral scientific research in Romania -pXQELLENTIA", co-funded from the European Social Fund through the Human Resource Development Operational Programme ¡2007-2013, contract no. POSDRU/187/1.5/S/155425.
nepcneKTHBbi HayKH u 06pa30BaHHA. 2015. 4 (16)
decided to bring into the world a deaf child through artificial insemination. In the couple's view, deafness is not a disability; it is the definition of a cultural identity based on a particular form of communication (Savulescu, J., 2002, apud Sandu, A., 2012).
The two examples are intended to outline the fact that human enhancement does not involve only adding: on the one hand, there is the enhanced supermouse, and on the other hand the two lesbians who decided to have a child affected by hearing impairment. We believe that this aspect of human enhancement as a way of improvement through adding or eliminating first brings into question the socio-cultural environment of the individual.
About the concept of limit and the way of overcoming it in transhumanism
We were born limited. We are limited; the limit is drawn by rights, freedoms, obligations or duties; we cannot say that we are fully free, nor that our rights are fully respected or that our consciousness can embed the entire knowledge. Our society is continuously changing; the limits that existed 30 years ago have been overcome in the field of technology, genetics, medicine, etc. Fifty years from now we are expected to be able to achieve eternal life through mind downloading (Sandu, A., 2015), whereas our consciousness will be uploaded in a digital environment; we will also be able to live in a virtual house, with a virtual spouse, etc. The limit is the barrier that separates the human being from the transhuman being. According to lonut Isac, the great innovation of the science of the future will only be achieved by embedding the idea of information as fundamental and universal ontological factor, which makes the self-consistency of the world and the existence intelligible and acceptable (Isac I., 2003). We will first analyse several aspects related to the limits of the human being, in order to subsequently bring into question the way the transhuman being tries to overcome these limits.
Transhumanism proposes overcoming the human limits through human enhancement. As mentioned above, human enhancement does not involve only adding, but also eliminating certain "features" of the individual. The human limits can also be overcome through communicative action, whereas through consensus and understanding individuals can reach communicative agreements. This consensus no longer regards only the biological limits, but also the communicative limit that could be overcome.
Human being versus transhuman being
The human being can be characterized from several perspectives: biological, medical, philosophical, psychological, social, etc. Our aim is to make a comparison between the human being as a biological being and the transhuman being.
Gabriel Liiceanu believes that sex, the somatic heritage, the mental heritage, ancestry, race, nation and age are immutable limits; however, freedom has no meaning in the context of the limit (Liiceanu, G., 1994). The existence of limits is a characteristic of the human individual, whether we talk about the limits arising from the status of biological being or social being. The hereditary biological environment
is closely related to certain psychological aspects, as outlined by Jean Piaget, who believes that any biological explanation (of the individual - in our opinion) is finally based on biology or logic, whereas the mental phenomena cannot be intelligible unless they are related to the body (Piaget, J., 1965). The biological component of the human species body which enables an accurate assessment of the general characteristics is the DNA, a kind of disk that stores the genetic information of our species. Coman Gheorghe outlined the fact that the human DNA is common to the species in the ratio of 99.9%; the other 10% causes physiological and psychological differences, giving rise to heredity (Coman, G., 2013). It is not easy to talk about the way the human being is formed, whereas the human issues must be approached from the perspective of the individual, the individuality, the person and the personality. As mentioned previously, the limits of the human being are determined both by the socio-cultural environment, as well as the biological aspects; the individual's socio-cultural environment "constrains" him so as not to carry out any action which would be to the detriment of his fellow men or would infringe their rights in any way. The issue regarding the limits of freedom has been long debated whereas it is determined by the relationship between the individual and the society to which he belongs (Mill, J.S., 2005) given that, in order to ensure peace within the borders, the state of low imposes limits, so that each citizen lives as he sees best. The issue of the limits can be analysed from several perspectives: the social perspective, the political perspective, the perspective of the Kantian categorical imperative or the perspective of Habermas's communicative action. Kant believes that the individuals must act as if the maximum of their action should become a universal law of nature by will (Kant, I., 2007). Within the theory of communicative action, the limits can be overcome through communicative action; communicative action leads to the annihilation of the limits: from action and self-improvement to excellence, whereas the understanding of things becomes possible depending on the limits imposed within a system of realities (Vidam, 2005). Through communicative the limit is restructured and other limits are introduced.
Regarding transhumanism, it proposes the overcoming of the physical limits through human enhancement; the final goal of transhumanism can be considered, on the one hand, singularity or the emergence of a new form of self-aware artificial life or immortality, by downloading the consciousness into a virtual environment. Nick Bostrom has conducted a review of the possibilities of implementing transhumanism:
- Super-intelligent machines;
- Lifelong emotional well-being through the re-calibration of the pleasure-centres;
- Personality pills;
- Space colonization;
- Molecular nanotechnology;
- Vastly extended life spans;
- The extinction of intelligent life;
- The interconnected world;
- Uploading our consciousness into a virtual reality;
Perspectives of Science & Education. 2015. 4 (16)
- The reanimation of cryonics patients (Bostrom, N., 2001).
We believe that, besides these, we could include head (brain) transplantation or human cloning (Terec-Vlad, L., Terec-Vlad, D., 2013). Overcoming the limits does not refer only to immortality, whereas transhumanism supports the human and cognitive enhancement of the individual, given that at the moment we are subject to physical and cognitive ageing and therefore we need moral bio-amelioration (Persons, I., Savulescu, J. 2014). Freeman Dyson supports the view that we have the moral right to use technology in order to expand the individual capacities, to surpass the natural limits and to improve ourselves both physically and psychologically (Dyson, F.).
We believe that overcoming the limits will lead to singularity or the moment when the artificial consciousness will be self-conscious, and the difference between the human being and the transhuman being lies in the anguish of being (Cucu, M., 2005) (Terec-Vlad, L., 2015).
How can we overcome the human limits through communicative action?
The theory of communicative action was developed by J. Habermas, who believes that it has a legitimizing force through the communicative rules and premises that allow us to distinguish between an agreement reached between free and equal persons and a contingent or forced consensus (Habermas, J., 1981)
We live in a knowledge-based society, which is why we can say that through language, morality and understanding we can overcome the imposed limits by introducing other limits. Jurgen Habermas sees the human behaviour in terms of objectifying the action and language and in terms of the pragmatic interpretations, as the moral rules ensure an equal treatment for all those who are subject to them (Vidam, T., 2005). T Vidam believes that communication ethics
proposes an eccentric understanding of the world, and that responsibility arises in the post-conventional stage of the interaction, when the moral action is regulated by rules, more precisely when the acting individual is guided by the reflexively verified requirements of validity (Vidam, T., 2005). The communicative action turns towards knowledge and understanding, as the agent pursuits the achievement of its own interests, taking account of the interests of the others, and thus creating a consensus.
Therefore, overcoming the human limits can be achieved through communicative action; given the subject of this paper, we believe that the individual's enhancement could be possible as long as one takes into account the personal interests as well as the interests of the individuals from a given society. Thus, human enhancement is seen as the overcoming of the limits by modifying the condition of the human individual; the common good is articulated at the level of the community, involving the consensus in this equation.
Conclusions
In this study, we have performed an analysis of the concept of limit, presenting the idea of human enhancement as a possibility of human improvement. We have also tried to correlate the concept of communicative action with the idea of transhumanism in order to outline the fact that the constraints can be overcome by expanding the limit from action and self-improvement to excellence. Transhumanism supports human improvement; however, improvement does not involve - as we have outlined - only adding, but also eliminating. Overcoming the transhumanist limits through communicative action is - in our opinion - a challenge, whereas it combines the biological aspects of the human individual with the idea of communication and consensus at the level of the society.
REFERENCES
Bostrom, N., (2001), What is transhumanism. Available at: http://www.nickbostrom.com/old/transhumanism.html (accessed 30 July 2015). Coman, G., (2013), Psihologie cuantica, Editura Pim, Iasi
Cucu, M., (2005), Soren Kierkegaard. Angoasa si suspensia teleologica a eticului, Symposium Journal, Iassy, no. 6
Dyson, F., H: The sky is the limit. Available at: http://jp.senescence.info/thoughts/transhumanism.html (accessed 30 July 2015).
Gasparel, C., (2006), Paradoxurile fiiintei umane si limita ca nonlimita a potentialitatii sale, The Annual Review (Yearbook) of George Baritiu Institute of Cluj Napoca, Humanistica Series, IV, pp. 277-285
Habermas, J., (1981), La reconstruccion del materialismo historico, Editorial Taurus, Madrid
Hughes, J., (2004), Citizen Cyborg: why Democratic Societies must respond to the Redesigned Human of the Future, Westview Press, Boulder Isac, I., (2003), Perspective asupra realitatii fizice. Studii si cercetari din domeniul stiintelor socio-umane, volume 11, Cluj
Kant, L., (2007), Tntemeierea metafizicii moravurilor, translation by Filotheia Bogoiu, Valentin Muresan, Miki Ota, Radu Gabriel Parvu, Editura Humanitas, Bucharest Lenta, O., Cormos, C., (2014), Violence and Non-Violence in Communication in The Digital Age, in „Authority and Power of Christian Values", Constantinescu, C., Runcan P., Runcan R., (coordinators), Editura Didactica si Pedagogica, pp. 157-165 Liiceanu, G., (1994), Despre limita, Editura Humanitas, Bucharest
Persons, I., Savulescu, J., (2014), Neadaptati pentru viitor. Nevoia de bioameliorare morala, Editura All, Bucharest Mill, J.S., (2005), Despre libertate (trad. De Adrian-Paul Iliescu), Editura Humanitas, Bucharest, pp. 48-60 Piaget, J., (1965), Psihologia inteligentei, Editura Stiintifica, Bucharest Sandu, A., (2012), Etica si deontologie profesionala, Editura Lumen, Iasi, 2012, pp. 226-230
Sandu, A., (2015), The Anthropology of Immortality and the Crisis of the Posthuman Conscience, Journal for the Study of Religions and Ideologies, volume 14, no. 40 Savulescu, J., (2002), Deaf Lesbians Designer Disability and the Future of medicine, British Medical Journal, Volume 325, pp. 771-773
Savulescu, J., (2007a ), Supermouse and Superman: The Dawn of Biological Liberation, Practical Ethics. Available at: http://blog.practicalethics.ox.ac.uk/2007/11/ supermouse-and-superman-the-dawn-of-biological-liberation (accessed 30 July 2015).
Terec-Vlad, L., Terec-Vlad D., (2013), Ethical aspects within human cloning, Procedia Social and Behavioural Sciences, no. 92, pp. 920-924 Terec-Vlad, L., (2015), From the Divine Transcendence to the Artificial One. Challenges of the New Technologies, Postmodern Openings, pp. 119-129 Vidam, T., (2005), Tematizari ale gandirii etice actuale, Annual Review (Yearbook) - Humanistica Series, pp. 269-296
Information about the author Terec-Vlad Loredana
(Romania, Suceava) PhD Candidate E-mail: [email protected]
Информация об авторе Терек-Влад Лоредана
(Румыния, Сучава) Соискатель E-mail: [email protected]
