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      Against Posthumanism: Notes towards an Ethopolitics of Personhood

      1 , 2
      Theory, Culture & Society
      SAGE Publications

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          Abstract

          Are we humans destined to become ‘posthuman’? In this paper, we question the claims of posthumanism, accepting some of its broader insights whilst proposing a more empirically and ethically appropriate ‘vitalist’ response. We argue that despite recent changes in styles of thought that question the uniqueness of ‘the human’, and despite novel technological developments for augmenting human bodies, we remain – fundamentally – persons. Humans, as persons, are constitutively embedded in and scaffolded by the material, social, semantic and cultural niches they have constructed for themselves. An ‘ethopolitical’ response to our present that recognizes this fact not only requires us to engage with the consequences of making lives in the unequal niches that restrict and stunt the personhood of so many human beings at present, but also requires us to broaden the bandwidth of those who are recognized fully as persons. In our conclusion we briefly develop the theme that this emphasis on personhood can be seen as a vitalist – rather than a humanist – stance.

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          Most cited references76

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          How We Became Posthuman

          N. Hayles (1999)
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            How Forests Think

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              The Politics of Life Itself : Biomedicine, Power, and Subjectivity in the Twenty-First Century

              <p>For centuries, medicine aimed to treat abnormalities. But today normality itself is open to medical modification. Equipped with a new molecular understanding of bodies and minds, and new techniques for manipulating basic life processes at the level of molecules, cells, and genes, medicine now seeks to manage human vital processes. <i>The Politics of Life Itself</i> offers a much-needed examination of recent developments in the life sciences and biomedicine that have led to the widespread politicization of medicine, human life, and biotechnology.<br><br><br> Avoiding the hype of popular science and the pessimism of most social science, Nikolas Rose analyzes contemporary molecular biopolitics, examining developments in genomics, neuroscience, pharmacology, and psychopharmacology and the ways they have affected racial politics, crime control, and psychiatry. Rose analyzes the transformation of biomedicine from the practice of healing to the government of life; the new emphasis on treating disease susceptibilities rather than disease; the shift in our understanding of the patient; the emergence of new forms of medical activism; the rise of biocapital; and the mutations in biopower. He concludes that these developments have profound consequences for who we think we are, and who we want to be.</p>
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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                Journal
                Theory, Culture & Society
                Theory, Culture & Society
                SAGE Publications
                0263-2764
                1460-3616
                January 2024
                June 24 2023
                January 2024
                : 41
                : 1
                : 3-21
                Affiliations
                [1 ]University of Bristol
                [2 ]Australian National University; University College London
                Article
                10.1177/02632764231178472
                8af324fe-b8db-4f1c-9519-c930125a7448
                © 2024

                https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

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