HUMANISM AND TRANSHUMANISM－SHAPING AN IMPOSSIBLE DIALOGUE?

Abstract

The term "transhumanism" has emerged in connection with the development of artificial intelligence and, more recently, with the robotization of thinking and communication. It imprints a new concern with philosophical debates on new topics related to transhumanism. Extensive fields of socio-humanistic sciences and disciplines are involved in these debates: ethics, aesthetics, axiology, communication sciences, psychology, psychosociology, anthropology, linguistics etc. One can also perceive the possible concerns of philosophers with the new status that man could have in relation to future forms of technological improvements of the human body, as well as to the robots created for various interactions with humans. A possible dethronement of Man from the position of supreme value of the known universe, of center of all approaches to knowledge, evaluation and transformation of reality ─ the ancient status of man, i.e. "measure of all things" (Protagoras) is quite debatable. Is this a reasonable concern? Is there enough data to suggest the "end of humanism"? Our paper tackles these questions.