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Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Reprogramming destiny
T2 - Kant’s ‘what is enlightenment?', evolution, and posthumanism
AU - Aquilina, Aaron
PY - 2016/12/1
Y1 - 2016/12/1
N2 - This article explores the idea of a genealogy of posthumanism while stressing the gene in genealogy. Starting with an analysis of Immanuel Kant’s essay on the Enlightenment, among other short works of his, this study examines speculation on the improvement of the human race, and consequently the possible shared concerns of Kantian thought and posthumanism. Because the issues in question hover between conceptualities of “destiny”, “progress”, and “man”, this paper examines the past (and future) progress of humanity in terms of evolution and the techno-biological processes of sexual reproduction and gene expression (specifically, genetic reprogramming). In doing so, the present argument aims to better elucidate Kant’s writings and, ultimately, determine if or how Kant may be read as prefiguring the posthumanist ethos.
AB - This article explores the idea of a genealogy of posthumanism while stressing the gene in genealogy. Starting with an analysis of Immanuel Kant’s essay on the Enlightenment, among other short works of his, this study examines speculation on the improvement of the human race, and consequently the possible shared concerns of Kantian thought and posthumanism. Because the issues in question hover between conceptualities of “destiny”, “progress”, and “man”, this paper examines the past (and future) progress of humanity in terms of evolution and the techno-biological processes of sexual reproduction and gene expression (specifically, genetic reprogramming). In doing so, the present argument aims to better elucidate Kant’s writings and, ultimately, determine if or how Kant may be read as prefiguring the posthumanist ethos.
KW - Kant
KW - Enlightenment
KW - posthumanism
KW - Foucault
KW - Derrida
KW - destiny
KW - progress
KW - evolution
KW - genetic reprogramming
KW - genealogy
M3 - Journal article
VL - 6
SP - 130
EP - 148
JO - Word and Text
JF - Word and Text
SN - 2069-9271
ER -