The Development Of Posthumanism And Its Three Dimensions

As science and technology continue to develop,people are using technology to transform nature and the society in which they live,as well as transforming the themselves.Technology has opened the door to infinite possibilities,including the possibility of changing both the living environment and the human race itself.Through some technological means of treatment and even augmentation,people can combine with machines and become post-human.At the same time,the long-standing anthropocentric ideology,while giving people a dominant position,has also brought unexpected negative consequences to mankind.More and more thinkers are rethinking the shortcomings of anthropocentrism,trying to jump out of it and see the benefits that are consistent with human long-term development of the future.Therefore,the posthumanism was born.The development of posthumanism not only contains the continuation of humanism or even anthropocentrism,but also incorporates new scientific and technological theories and practices which turns into a reflection on the form posthuman.It is a breakthrough in human ontology and epistemology and has important value in the study of human future.As the research on posthumanism is quite new in China's academic fields,this paper aims to provide a supplement for the present posthumanism research in China through the analysis of the development of posthumanism and its three internal dimensions.The introduction of this thesis introduces the reasons for choosing this topic and the research status in China and abroad,and points out the problems to be solved and the possibility of innovation of this thesis.The first two chapters of this paper,“the origin of post-humanism” and “the analysis of post-humanism concept”,sort out the development context of posthumanism and the process of its continuous expansion and development,and define the concept of posthumanism.Two ways of understanding posthumanism are put forward in this part,which include the two mainstream directions of post-humanist research at present.One is posthuman plus “-sim”,which is the research about the human's new form;the other is post plus humanism,which is mainly the criticism and development of humanism.The third chapter mainly elaborates the reason this thesis choses these three dimensions.The last three chapters of this paper correspond to the “three dimensions” in the title,which respectively analyze the posthumanism from three perspectives: ontology(cyborg),epistemology(science and technology and human-tech relations)and ethics(some worries about the technological ethics).These three angles are commonly used in the traditional philosophical analysis,and they are also the most representative part of posthumanism.The first dimension is the discussion from the perspective of ontology.Philosophical ontological research can be said to be the nature of philosophy.The analysis of posthumanism cannot be separated from the discussion of the changes in human existence,and the specific analysis here is of the path of cyborg's development and the different cyborg images,thus describing the characteristics of cyborg and explaining the transcendental significance of posthumanism for the current human ontology and for humanism.The second dimension explores the technologized character of human cognitive processes under the premise of a closer human-computer bond,thus this section focuses on the relationship between human and technology in posthumanism by elaborating on the analysis of different technological means with the help of epistemological changes.The third dimension is centered on the ethical perspective commonly used in the discussions on development of technology and discusses the application of technology as it exists in posthumanism often with the issue of pushing ethical boundaries.The main analytical approach taken in the thesis is based on philosophical theory,by looking at specific images of posthumans and the specific technologies employed,analyses are carried out accordingly.The thesis combs through the extensive foreign literature and draws its own conclusions,that is,posthumanism has been a breakthrough and transcendence to traditional humanism or anthropocentrism in the ares of ontology,epistemology,and the ethical perspective all.It goes beyond the ontology of the human being which used to be limited by the body.It transcends the boundaries of the human and the other,the organic and the inorganic,and which brings man and machine into a new phase of closer union.It has even influenced the construction of human cognition and relationships.Therefore,this thesis emphasizes the groundbreaking nature of posthumanism,highlighting its role and the value of the research in understanding human beings themselves,in understanding technology,and in understanding new ethical issues.Finally,this paper concludes that what posthumanism has brought us is not an openness to infinite possibilities for uninhibited transformation of ourselves.For every stage of overly radical improvement is often accompanied by a social ethic of “ritual collapse”,resulting in social unrest and an unestablished new order.However,it is still necessary to analyze the posthumanism since it opens the door to a new world and allows us to reflect fully on the problems that we are currently exposing to ourselves as human beings and to our relationship with the other and the world.What we need to do at this time is not to pursue indefinitely what mankind wants to pursue and to misuse scientific and technological means to transform others and human itself,but rather to engage in sound criticism and to find a more suitable path for the future development of humanity.Human beings should reflect on the problems arising at present and make a transcendence of the current situation,with the premise that all these should not be subversive.Posthumanism is more of a window and a bridge in this process,and only a scientific,rational analysis of it could lead to a more reasonable future.