Citizen Cyborg: Why Democratic Societies Must Respond To The Redesigned Human Of The Future

by James Hughes

Overview

A provocative work by medical ethicist James Hughes, Citizen Cyborg argues that technologies pushing the boundaries of humanness can radically improve our quality of life if they are controlled democratically. Hughes challenges both the technophobia of Leon Kass and Francis Fukuyama and the unchecked enthusiasm of others for limitless human enhancement. He argues instead for a third way, "democratic transhumanism," by asking the question destined to become a fundamental issue of the twenty-first century: How can we use new cybernetic and biomedical technologies to make life better for everyone? These technologies hold great promise, but they also pose profound challenges to our health, our culture, and our liberal democratic political system. By allowing humans to become more than human - "posthuman" or "transhuman" - the new technologies will require new answers for the enduring issues of liberty and the common good. What limits should we place on the freedom of people to control their own bodies? Who should own genes and other living things? Which technologies should be mandatory, which voluntary, and which forbidden? For answers to these challenges, Citizen Cyborg proposes a radical return to a faith in the resilience of our democratic institutions.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813341989
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	10/27/2004
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

James Hughes is the producer of the public affairs program, Changesurfer Radio, and the Executive Director of the World Transhumanist Association. He lives in Willington, Connecticut.

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgments	ix
	Introduction	xi
Section I	Tools for a Better You
1	Better Living Through Science and Democracy	3
2	Controlling the Body	11
3	Living Longer	23
4	Getting Smarter	33
5	Being Happier	43
Section II	The New Biopolitical Landscape
6	From Future Shock to Biopolitics	55
7	Cyborg Citizenship	75
8	Defenders of Natural Law	107
9	Left-Wing BioLuddites	125
10	Upwingers, Extropians and Transhumanists	155
Section III	Freedom and Equality Among the Cyborgs
11	Democratic Transhumanism	187
12	Transhuman Democracy	221
13	Defending the Future	241
14	A Sexy, High-Tech Vision for a Radically Democratic Future	259
	Further Resources	267
	Index	285

What People are Saying About This

Joel Garreau

James Hughes is a sober, insightful, useful and optimistic thinker about the astonishing changes in store for human nature. Citizen Cyborg is an important contribution to the rapidly moving debate on human enhancement.
—(Joel Garreau, author of While God Wasn't Watching: The Future of Human Nature)

Wesley J. Smith

"Citizen Cyborg is a must read for anyone seeking to understand the dangers posed by radical transhumanism. James Hughes's passionate and skilled advocacy forces us to confront the kind of society we want for ourselves and our children.
—(Wesley J. Smith, author of Consumer's Guide to a Brave New World and Culture of Death: The Assault on Medical Ethics in America)

Gregory Pence

A fascinating tour of the coming intersection of politics, nanotechnology, and biology, by the leading champion of Transhumanism. Anyone who wants to understand the tumultuous bio-politics of the next decade should read this book.
—(Gregory Pence, author of Who's Afraid of Human Cloning, Professor, Philosophy and School of Medicine, University of Alabama Medical School.)

Dr. Gregory Stock

A challenging and provocative look at the intersection of human self-modification and political governance. Everyone wondering how society will be able to handle the coming possibilities of AI and Genomics should read Citizen Cyborg.
—(Dr. Gregory Stock, author of Redesigning Humans)

John Lantos M.D

A powerful indictment of the anti-rationalist attitudes that are dominating our national policy today. Hughes brings together ideas from religion, history, science, bioethics, and politics in a unique way. The book sparkles with insights, challenges, and new ways of looking at the problems our society is facing today. He is a worthy guide to a more humane future.
—(John Lantos M.D., author of Do We Still Need Doctors)