“Vous serez comme Dieu” – une analyse historique et philosophique de la dernière mutation d’un rêve séculaire : l’homme augmenté

Abstract

The earliest account of a transformation of man we find in ch. 3 of the book of Genesis. While this transformation relates only to intellectual powers, the idea of transforming also the human body arose in the context of evolution with Charles Darwin's cousin Francis Galton (eugenics). In my talk I will first give a short historical overview about ideas of betterment of humankind and then turn to a critical epistemological analysis of H+. This analysis will mainly focus on the topic of predicting evolutionary developments and on projects at determining them. Finally, I will turn to to the question, which properties should be selected for with respect to H+ (l'homme augmenté). Here one has first to take into account that this question is not scientific, insofar it does not relate to facts but rather to values. This means that the society as a whole, based on both philosophical and scientific competence has to decide. Here arises, however, the same question that has foundered eugenics: who is entitled to decide with what justification which properties are desirable for H+ and which are not? Finally, it is pointed out thatthe posthumanity/transhumanism issue is in its positive as well as negative aspects a topic that is typical above all for the cultural environment of the United States and, in a lesser degree, Great Britain. We Europeans should leave it there and better care for less conspicuous but more pressing and realistic “enhancements” in public healthcare, education, employment, housing, integration of migrants, and many more.