Posthumanism

Comunità, immunità, apertura verso l’alterità: una biopolitica affermativa e oltre-umana?

by Giacomo Pezzano

Published in "Trópos. Rivista di ermeneutica e critica filosofica”, IV, 2, 2011, pp. 167-184

Roberto Esposito claims that biopolitics characterizes the entire modernity, and that it is built on the immunity... more Roberto Esposito claims that biopolitics characterizes the entire modernity, and that it is built on the immunity dispositive. Im-munity is the negation of the munus which animates and builds com-munity: inside the immunitarian paradigm, thinking politics and ontology is considering men as ab-solutes beings, without any kind of engagement to each other, inhabited by a vacuum to deny. Esposito believes this means shaping an anthropological paradigm (systematized by philosophical anthropology in the 20th century) in which man is thought to be distinct from the animal since he is capable of denying his own nature and, more generally, his relationship with the world and the other beings – that is, a paradigm in which community has no ‘positive’ place. In order to overcome the immunitarian paradigm, we need to define the outlines of an affirmative biopolitics, a politics ‘of ’ life and not ‘on’ life. This biopolitical shift requires the understanding of the ‘flow of life,’ of its everlasting and unprotected openness: Esposito claims that life is impersonal and intrinsically normative, over-human and perpetually exposed to the ‘outside.’ Finally, this perspective leaves open a crucial question: can over-man exist without man?

Love and Hope for Other Species in the Posthuman Future

by VR Manoj

Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies

I am writing this after having responded to a respected friend, a bioethicist with whom I am connected via Facebook.... more I am writing this after having responded to a respected friend, a bioethicist with whom I am connected via Facebook. In his photo albums, he has a picture of a protected area for dogs in Thailand. This got me thinking.

Material Ecocriticism: Materiality, Agency, and Models of Narrativity

by Serenella Iovino

Co-authored with Serpil Oppermann.
Published in Ecozon@: European Journal of Literature, Culture and Environment, Vol 3, No 1 (2012)

The proliferation of studies bearing on the intellectual movement known as the "new materialisms" evinces... more The proliferation of studies bearing on the intellectual movement known as the "new materialisms" evinces that a material turn is becoming an important paradigm in environmental humanities. Ranging from social and science studies, feminism, to anthropology, geography, environmental philosophies and animal studies, this approach is bringing innovative ways of considering matter and material relations that, coupled with reflections on agency, text, and narrativity, are going to impact ecocriticism in an unprecedented way.
In consideration of the relevance of this debate, we would like to draw for Ecozon@'s readers an introductory map of the new paradigm and introduce what can be called "material ecocriticism." We will illustrate what we consider to be its main features, situating them in the conceptual horizons of the new materialisms. From this genealogical sketch, we will examine the re-definitions of concepts like matter, agency, discursivity, and intentionality, with regard to their effects on ecocriticism and in terms of their ethical perspectives.

"The Problem of Transhumanism in the Light of Philosophy and Theology"

by Philippe Gagnon

Chapter 34 in Blackwell Companion to Science and Christianity, J. B. Stump and A. G. Padgett (eds.) (Malden/Oxford: Wiley/Blackwell, 2012), pp. 393-405.

Transhumanism is a means of advocating a re-engineering of conditions that surround human existence at both ends. The... more Transhumanism is a means of advocating a re-engineering of conditions that surround human existence at both ends. The problem set before us in this chapter is to inquire into what determined its appearance, in particular in the humanism it seeks to overcome. We look at the spirit of overcoming itself, and the impatience with the Self, in order to try to understand why it seeks a saving power in technology. We then consider how the evolutionary account of the production of organisms does not set them against a perfect standard, but rather injects in them a contingency that seems to be near to the heart of the problem. We then try to assess the objective basis for improvements and manipulation of nature, and although we do not find it forbidden on all occasions, it seems that the criteria for such alterations are impossible to detach from a form of eugenics. We finally open a window toward a theological account of the problem, and find that the desire of autonomy and independence is inevitably going to be challenged by the Christian dogma of creation.

Written oral history: Dimensions of identity of Chukotka’s indigenous people in the works of Rytkheu

by Ivan Sablin

published in AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples, vol. 8, no. 1, 2012, pp. 27–41.

Through the examination of two autobiographic works of Chukchi writer, Rytkheu, this study demonstrates the research... more Through the examination of two autobiographic works of Chukchi writer, Rytkheu, this study demonstrates the research potential of indigenous literatures, offering a new perspective on the past and present of indigenous peoples. The study seeks to provide new interpretations of identity in Chukotka, the northeastern extremity of Asia, of the 1930s and 1940s and to contribute to the identity debate in indigenous studies. In the article identity is understood as a multidimensional whole, with the discussed dimensions being based on ethnicity, nationality, occupation and place of residence. The article pre-eminently addresses the identity of the coastal sea-mammal hunters of Chukotka.

Animal Cultures, Subjectivity and Knowledge: Symmetrical Reflections Beyond the Great Divide

by Richie Nimmo

Society and Animals: Journal of Human-Animal Studies, Vol. 20, No. 2: 173-192.

This article reflects upon the implications for sociology of the steady accumulation of evidence in the sciences of... more This article reflects upon the implications for sociology of the steady accumulation of evidence in the sciences of animal behavior pointing to the existence of culture among nonhuman animals. With a particular focus on primatology, it explores how these developments challenge the notions of “culture” that continue to inform the study of human social life. The article argues that this growing challenge to the assumption of human uniqueness that has historically provided the core rationale for sociology cannot be ignored. The paper thus contributes to the overdue work of articulating a constructive response by tracing the issues involved in the encounter between these knowledges. Theoretical currents from science studies and actor-network theory are drawn upon in order to propose a reflexive and symmetrical realignment of this encounter, with significant implications for our understandings of human and animal being and subjectivity.

Giorgio Agamben, “Il Regno e la Gloria. Per una genealogia teologica dell’economia e del governo”, Bollati Boringhieri, Torino 2009

by Giacomo Pezzano

Published in“Lessico di Etica pubblica”, II, 1, 2011, pp. 130-138

A critical review of one of the most important books in the contemporary philosophical debate A critical review of one of the most important books in the contemporary philosophical debate

Per un’ontologia del (post)umano

by Giacomo Pezzano

Published in “Vita pensata”, II, 12, giugno 2011, pp. 15-27

An attempt to think a "post-human" ontology, between "dynamis" and "modus" An attempt to think a "post-human" ontology, between "dynamis" and "modus"

The Tiger and the Theodolite: George Coleman's Dream of Extinction

by Kevin Chua

FOCAS: Forum on Contemporary Art and Society 6, Singapore, 124-49 (republished in Broadsheet, vol. 36, no. 2)

Must We Persist to Continue

by Jairus Grove

Mogelijkheid van een eiland: Houellebecqs heimwee naar de mens

by Mark Coeckelbergh

Not a Virus, but an Upgrade”: The Ethics of Epidemic Evolution in Greg Bear’s Darwin’s Radio (2001)

by Lisa Lynch

Transhumanismo y posthumano: principios teóricos e implicaciones bioéticas

by Elena Postigo Solana

Transumanesimo e postumano: Principi teorici e implicazioni bioetiche

by Elena Postigo Solana

Neither Inside Nor Outside: Performing the Process of Mind

by Anthony Miccoli

Under consideration for an upcoming collection

Philosophically speaking, mindedness often becomes an epistemological paradox: the mind knows itself, but only because... more Philosophically speaking, mindedness often becomes an epistemological paradox: the mind knows itself, but only because of the “otherness” of the outside it thinks it knows. This “existential sidestep” demonstrated in the work of such philosophers as Hegel and Heidegger provides important phenomenological theories of knowing and being, and influence current philosophers such as Andy Clark and related philosophies of mind. Even though current philosophies of mind do take into account the importance of exteriority, they still utilize an interior/exterior binary. It is important to re-think our concept of mind, body, and world in a way that does not rely on metaphors of interiority and exteriority. Instead, we should think in terms of mind as a process which happens across topological substrates, in modalities which are informed by the unique material landscapes which we occupy. Building upon the work of Hegel, Heidegger, and Clark, this chapter will show that the mind is a process which encompasses the sum total of the exterior spaces the body occupies; and cognition is a function of topologically-informed performative acts which manipulate those spaces.

Genomic natures read through posthumanisms

by Richard Twine

‘Life Subdued to Its Instrument’: Ted Hughes and Technology

by sam solnick

Published in Issue 2 of the Ted Hughes Society Journal

After Sex? On Writing since Queer Theory (2011) ed. by Janet Halley and Andrew Parker

by Dara Blumenthal

Critical Review Essay

Material Ecocriticism: A Theoretical Introduction. In ISLE--Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment, forthcoming 2012.

by Serenella Iovino

Part I of S. Iovino and S. Oppermann, Theorizing Material Ecocriticism: A Diptych. Part II (by S. Oppermann): A Lateral Continuum: Ecocriticism and Postmodern Materialism.
The essays are part of the Special Cluster on “Dirt, Waste, Bodies, Food, and Other Matter,” co-edited by Heather Sullivan and Dana Phillips.

In preparation of our co-edited book on Material Ecocriticism, we propose a “diptych”--a double vision of converging... more In preparation of our co-edited book on Material Ecocriticism, we propose a “diptych”--a double vision of converging paths--about the key concepts of this new interpretive paradigm for ecocritical studies. The diptych provides a map of its most notable formulations (theoretical models for the intertwining of bodies, discourses, and natures), and examines the effects of the “material turn” on ecocriticism in our combined vision.

Toxic Epiphanies: Dioxin, Power, and Gendered Bodies in Laura Conti’s Narratives on Seveso. In: Feminist Ecocriticism: A Critical Reader. Ed. S. Estok, G. Gaard, S. Oppermann. Forthcoming.

by Serenella Iovino

An essay in material and feminist ecocriticism.

What is a narrative agency and what are the political effects of a material narrative? This essay addresses such... more What is a narrative agency and what are the political effects of a material narrative? This essay addresses such issues by considering the case of Italy’s first big ecological disaster, occurred in Seveso in 1976. A cloud of dioxin burst out from an industrial site, poisoning people and territory, killing livestock and domestic animals, causing miscarriages and fetal malformations, and producing strong political and ideological polemics over women, their bodies, and their right to self-determination.
Laura Conti, scientist, writer, and environmental activist, witnessed and narrated the catastrophe in both its ecological and political dimensions. Analyzing her works, and focusing on dioxin as a "posthuman narrative agency," namely, as a revealing “deviant agent” that interlaces both materiality and its discursive reverberations, I reflect about how feminist ecocriticism may act as an epistemological tool for an ethics and politics of liberation.
This study situates itself in the broader horizon of a feminist theory of material ecocriticism, one that investigates the representations of the body, of inter- and trans-corporeality, multiple causality, complexity and agentic entanglements of matter and discourse.