2013, Vol.6, No.1

Deconstructing the Economy of Debt: Karl Marx, Jürgen Habermas, and an Ethics of Debt

Ilsup AHN | 2013, 6(1) | pp.5~32 | number of Cited : 0

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Jens EDER | 2013, 6(1) | pp.33~62 | number of Cited : 0

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YouTube, the most successful video platform to date, is an important source for identifying public opinions, fantasies, and feelings about transhumanism. Looking at YouTube can show us how its many users think about human enhancement and possible posthuman futures; and that may help us to better understand the democratic viability or even legitimacy of political decisions concerning enhancement technologies. Moreover, YouTube not only is an indicator of collective imaginations but has an important influence on them as well. Because it allows for uploading user-generated content and participating in recommendations, comments and discussions, it can be seen as a cultural forum of exchange or as a battlefield where different opinions collide and intermesh. This paper tries to give a first, provisional survey of YouTube’s discourses about transhumanism, human enhancement, and posthuman futures. The analysis proceeds in three steps: After some general considerations concerning transhumanism and representations of posthumans in popular culture, it turns to the specifics of YouTube as a new media form. On that basis, four kinds of discourses concerning transhumanism are distinguished and illustrated by brief examples of typical videos and comments: non-fictional discourses (1) about emerging technologies in human therapy and enhancement, as well as (2) about the transhumanist movement, (3) fictional discourses about posthuman futures, and (4) reflective, meta-fictional discourses about mass media representations of posthumanity. The analysis of those discourses shows highly divergent tendencies of evaluating human enhancement. Taken together, those evaluations suggest that a majority of YouTube users take a skeptical stance towards enhancement technologies in general, while they may be more ready to accept concrete technologies with demonstrable benefits. Moreover, the discourses show that collective imaginations of human nature and posthumanity are changing: the human species is more and more seen not as something fixed and stable but as something transformable and ephemeral.

Messy Bodies: From Cosmetic Surgery to Mind-Uploading

Michael HAUSKELLER | 2013, 6(1) | pp.63~75 | number of Cited : 0

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The Spontaneity of Therapeutic Improvisation from Zhuangzi’s Perspective

LEE Kook Bong , CHUNG In Ji | 2013, 6(1) | pp.77~97 | number of Cited : 0

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The main theme of this study is focused on the spontaneity of therapeutic improvisation from Zhuangzi’s perspective. Based on the free spirit of life, Zhuangzi’s musicology emphasizes ‘one-self [自]’ and ‘joy [快]’ from nature’s point of view. It means that we should be able to pursue ‘joy in oneself’ by ourselves. This is also why musicians, who complain about performance anxiety, need music therapy, such as therapeutic improvisation. In fact, young Korean musicians can feel joy by communicating with the audience through their emotions in music and by exchanging them with many people. However, what is waiting for them, even before empathizing with the audience, is severe competition and evaluation. Why do young Korean musicians need spontaneity? Which implications and ideas for the spontaneity of therapeutic improvisation and Zhuangzi’s philosophy can be given to those musicians complaining about performance anxiety based on eastern culture? On Zhuangzi’s perspective, when young musicians can get free from external stuff WàiWù [外物] like ranking, they can overcome performance anxiety and be absorbed in their own music. This is why Zhuangzi talked about ‘Do not depend on external stuff WàiWù’ and emphasized ‘one-self’ and ‘joy.’ The goal of this project is to find answers to (1) how individual musicians can maintain spontaneity, (2) how musicians can solve the performance anxiety that they have had, and (3) finally how they can maximize their competence and ability as professional musicians from Zhuangzi’s view of spontaneity. Ultimately, this study reviews a music therapy article on young Korean musicians and applies the concept of spontaneity as the free spirit of life in Zhuangzi’s philosophy to the empirical case and interprets the case’s results to answer those questions above. There is one condition: If young musicians want to be able to enjoy music, they have to set themselves free from others’ eyes. They can feel joyfulness accompanied with a kind of catharsis, which can be only possible when they express their own feelings and get absorbed in their performance. This is the meaning of spontaneity as the free spirit of life, which is namely shēngzhīdé [生之德] in Zhuangzi’s philosophy.

Human Dignity and the Ethics of Human Enhancement

Dónal P. O’MATHÚNA | 2013, 6(1) | pp.99~120 | number of Cited : 2

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Human dignity supports the equal value of all humans and their ethical treatment. While human rights conventions use the term frequently, it is rarely defined. The term dignity is used differently, and two dimensions are described in detail. Inherent dignity is an intrinsic dimension held by all humans and is the basis of equal rights for all humans. Circumstantial dignity is another dimension, but is variable and changeable. This is in mind when circumstances are said to enhance or diminish someone’s dignity. The recent critique of dignity arises in part because of conflation of these two dimensions. Others reject dignity because of its religious connections. Such criticisms will be responded to in defense of dignity. Posthuman and transhuman enhancement also raise questions about the value of dignity because of its roots in humanism. Nick Bostrom defends posthuman dignity while critiquing Leon Kass’s bioconservative position. Bostrom’s argument will be critiqued because of his failure to distinguish between inherent and circumstantial dignity, and his misunderstanding of Kass’s claims. In contrast to the transhumanist enhancement project, inherent dignity points to the givenness and limitations of human nature. This indicates the importance of developing gratitude for human nature and avoiding an endless pursuit of perfection. Such an approach is not antagonistic to medicine and science. Instead, it places priority on improving the circumstantial dignity of all human beings, especially those who live without their basic needs being met. Their inherent dignity places a moral obligation on those with resources to help them. Medicine and science should focus on relieving their needs, not enhancing those who already have most needs met. Justice for all humans based on their inherent dignity is proposed as a significant argument against the ethics of transhuman enhancement.

Posthumanist Selfhood: Challenges to Being a Conglomerate

Thomas PHILBECK | 2013, 6(1) | pp.121~134 | number of Cited : 3

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Human Dignity 2.0: Beyond a Rigid Version of Anthropocentrism

Stefan Lorenz SORGNER | 2013, 6(1) | pp.135~159 | number of Cited : 2

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Conscience, Authority, and Andrew Marvell’s The First Anniversary

Seok Min YUN | 2013, 6(1) | pp.161~190 | number of Cited : 0

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KJCKorea
Journal Central

탈경계인문학Trans-Humanities 2023 KCI Impact Factor : 0.57

2013, Vol.6, No.1