Questioning humanity : being human in a posthuman age / Thomas Osborne (Professor of Social and Political Theory, School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies, University of Bristol, UK) and Nikolas Rose (Distinguished Honorary Professor, Research School of Social Sciences and Department of Sociology, Australian National University, Australia and Honorary Professor, Institute of Advanced Studies, University College London, UK).

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Osborne, Thomas, 1964- author.

Rose, Nikolas S., author.

Contributor:

Edward Elgar Publishing, publisher.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Posthumanism.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (230 pages)

Place of Publication:

Northampton : Edward Elgar Publishing, 2024.

Summary:

"This innovative book questions what it means to be human today and in the future. Drawing on the natural, human and life sciences, Thomas Osborne and Nikolas Rose encourage us to reconsider the human condition and the ways in which humans are affected by their animality, technology and the prospect of their annihilation. Questioning Humanity builds on and questions established orthodoxies in the social sciences and humanities. Using arguments from the life sciences it introduces readers to debates surrounding posthumanism, human evolution, the uniqueness of the human mind and human consciousness. The book goes further, into novel territory, to examine relations and distinctions between humans and non-human animals, developments in 'artificial intelligence' and its limits, the prospect of human extinction by climate change, and the possibilities of alien civilizations. Osborne and Rose argue that despite calls for a new posthuman ethics, we remain all too human, and the social and human sciences should be imbued with a naturalistic humanism if they are to address the real and immediate challenges of local and global inequity and injustice. Providing an accessible introduction into both the contemporary challenges and future key questions within the social and human sciences, this book will be a vital read for undergraduate and postgraduate students in these areas. Questioning Humanity will also appeal to scholars from social, cultural, anthropological and biological disciplines interested in human distinctiveness"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Contents: Analytical table of Contents

Preface and acknowledgements

Introduction: Questioning humanity

1. Humanity

2. Minds

3. Animals

4. Cyborgs

5. Aliens

6. Extinction Afterword: Towards an alternative humanism?

Bibliography.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print record.

ISBN:

9781035309825 (e-book)

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.