Inhuman Thoughts


Book Description

Inhuman Thoughts is a philosophical exploration of the possibility of increasing the physiological and psychological capacities of humans to the point that they are no longer biologically, psychologically, or socially human. The movement is from the human through the trans-human, to the post-human. The tone is optimistic; Seidel argues that such an evolution would be of positive value on the whole. Seidel's initial argument supports the need for a comprehensive ethical theory, the success of which would parallel that of a large-scale scientific revolution, such as Newtonian mechanics. He elaborates the movement from the improved-but-still-human to the post-human, and philosophically examines speculated examples of post-human forms of life, including indefinitely extended life-span, parallel consciousness, altered perception, a-sociality, and a-sexuality. Inhuman Thoughts is directed at those interested in philosophical questions on human nature and the best life given the possibilities of that nature. Seidel's overall argument is that the most satisfactory answer to the latter question involves a transcendence of the present confines of human nature.




Inhuman Thoughts


Book Description

Inhuman Thoughts is a philosophical exploration of the possibility of increasing the physiological and psychological capacities of humans to the point that they are no longer biologically, psychologically, or socially human. The movement is from the human through the trans-human, to the post-human. The tone is optimistic; Seidel argues that such an evolution would be of positive value on the whole. Seidel's initial argument supports the need for a comprehensive ethical theory, the success of which would parallel that of a large-scale scientific revolution, such as Newtonian mechanics. He elaborates the movement from the improved-but-still-human to the post-human, and philosophically examines speculated examples of post-human forms of life, including indefinitely extended life-span, parallel consciousness, altered perception, a-sociality, and a-sexuality. Inhuman Thoughts is directed at those interested in philosophical questions on human nature and the best life given the possibilities of that nature. Seidel's overall argument is that the most satisfactory answer to the latter question involves a transcendence of the present confines of human nature.




Lyotard and the Inhuman Condition


Book Description

Ashley Woodward demonstrates what a new generation of scholars are just discovering: that Lyotard's incisive work is essential for current debates in the humanities. Lyotard's ideas about the arts and the confrontations between humanist traditions and cutting-edge sciences and technologies are today known as 'posthumanism'. Woodward presents a series of studies to explain Lyotard's specific interventions in information theory, new media arts and the changing nature of the human. He assesses their relevance and impact in relation to a number of important contemporary thinkers including Bernard Stiegler, Luciano Floridi, Quentin Meillassoux and Paul Virilio.




Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil of Slavery


Book Description

A freed slave's daring assertion of the evils of slavery Born in present-day Ghana, Quobna Ottobah Cugoano was kidnapped at the age of thirteen and sold into slavery by his fellow Africans in 1770; he worked in the brutal plantation chain gangs of the West Indies before being freed in England. His Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil of Slavery is the most direct criticism of slavery by a writer of African descent. Cugoano refutes pro-slavery arguments of the day, including slavery's supposed divine sanction; the belief that Africans gladly sold their own families into slavery; that Africans were especially suited to its rigors; and that West Indian slaves led better lives than European serfs. Exploiting his dual identity as both an African and a British citizen, Cugoano daringly asserted that all those under slavery's yoke had a moral obligation to rebel, while at the same time he appealed to white England's better self. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.







Deconstruction and the 'Unfinished Project of Modernity'


Book Description

Through a close engagement with some key thinkers, Norris argues that deconstruction is part of the "unfinished project of modernity." a project whose interest and values it upholds by continuing to question them in a spirit of enlightened self-critical inquiry.







Guinea Pigs of the New World Order


Book Description

The author believes that those labelled as blacks in the world are the greatest victims of racial discrimination and will be highly victimised as the New World Government takes full force. According to the author, racism is not a problem as humans seem to have evolved with some seemingly physical differences resulting in different races, but the main problem is racial discrimination which has resulted in series of racially driven ugliness that people of colour, most especially blacks, face in the world in these present times, including the treatment they shall receive from the New World Government. The African continent harbours this breed of humans called blacks, and many studies have been undertaken to prove whether African natives are inferior in intelligence therefore incapable of higher thoughts and higher arts. The author begs to disagree, hence race has nothing to do with human intelligence, and the reasons why there is insignificant human development in Africa according to the author are human slavery which happened in the past, which was a plot to use African natives as human machines; forced dominance which resulted in land seizures in some part of Africa and colonial invasion which was a plot to acquire land and natural resources and not to help Africa as the imperialists conspiracy propagandists want all to believe. Colonialism came with religious tools enforced with guns and brute force, and without the invasion of the colonialists, Africans would have developed considering the pyramids ofEgypt, the axioms ofEthiopia, the medical institutes inTimbuktuin the ancient times and more. According to the author, the reason why the African continent is paralysed in terms of economic development is mental slavery leading to economic slavery. Mental slavery is caused by racial discrimination, mind diversion using information and religious tools, pseudoscience or superstitions, faulty education, colonialism, and colonial destruction of African cultural evolution. The author believes that since Chinese and Indians could develop and attain economic freedom, so also canAfricadevelop, but Africans must first deal with mental slavery. Mental slavery leads to economic slavery. Today, Africans cannot produce what they consume nor consume what they produce all because of mental slavery. An endangered species is a population of organisms which is facing a high risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters. Technically speaking, African natives are facing predation parameters, and it seems that the New World Order since its creation and inception designated the African natives (that they call blacks) as guinea pigs that will be used in its operations and to advance its cause. The black man has faced cruel slavery, colonialism, forced dominance and subjugation, neo-colonialism, and he is now also facing mental slavery, a far more dangerous situation. It is a situation not recognisable with the naked eye yet exists and poses more danger than all of the former, creating a cloud of mental slaves who are moving in the wrong direction applying the wrong life operational parameters. Development is extremely slow in the African continent, and the advanced nations have ceased that opportunity to transform the continent into a huge market for their finished goods, in the process also fuelling mind slavery to impair development. They hypocritically condemn the African continent as incapable of self-sustenance, but it has never occurred to anyone that ifAfricastands up today, those advance nations will lose their market. In exchange directly or indirectly for the rich natural resources of the African continent, the advanced nations have fuelled wars and mental slavery in the continent while still condemning the continent. Unfortunately, the same mercenaries of the New World Government who enslaved the African people in




People of Substance


Book Description

People of Substance is a lively, accessible ethnography of a complex indigenous group of people of the Colombian Amazon who call themselves ‘People of the Center. ’ Carlos David Londoño Sulkin examines this group's understandings and practices relating to selfhood, social organization, livelihood, and symbolism. Through this, he makes a strong case for increased anthropological attention to morality and ethics. Londoño Sulkin explains a number of key issues and debates in Amazonian anthropology with great clarity, making People of Substance a useful text for students. At the same time, it is theoretically sophisticated, combining innovative research methods with sound analysis of empirically gathered material. Contributing both to accounts of regional history and to discussions on anthropology and history, People of Substance offers valuable engagement with concepts of structure, agency, and freedom.