#57 - Sorgner on Nietzschean Transhumanism

In this episode I talk Stefan Lorenz Sorgner. Stefan teaches philosophy at John Cabot University in Rome. He is director and co-founder of the Beyond Humanism Network, Fellow at the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies (IEET), Research Fellow at the Ewha Institute for the Humanities at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, and Visting Fellow at the Ethics Centre of the Friedrich-Schiller-University in Jena. His main fields of research are Nietzsche, the philosophy of music, bioethics and meta-, post- and transhumanism. We talk about his case for a Nietzschean form of transhumanism. You can download the episode here or listen below. You can also subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher and a variety of other podcasting apps (the RSS feed is here). Show Notes0:00 - Introduction2:12 - Recent commentary on Stefan's book Ubermensch3:41 - Understanding transhumanism - getting away from the "humanism on steroids" ideal10:33 - Transhumanism as an attitude of experimentation and not a destination?13:34 - Have we always been transhumanists?16:51 - Understanding Nietzsche22:30 - The Will to Power in Nietzschean philosophy26:41 - How to understand "power" in Nietzschean terms30:40 - The importance of perspectivalism and the abandonment of universal truth36:40 - Is it possible for a Nietzschean to consistently deny absolute truth?39:55 - The idea of the Ubermensch (Overhuman)45:48 - Making the case for a Nietzschean form of transhumanism51:00 - What about the negative associations of Nietzsche?1:02:17 - The problem of moral relativism for transhumanists Relevant LinksStefan's homepageThe Ubermensch: A Plea for a Nietzschean Transhumanism - Stefan's new book (in German)Posthumanism and Transhumanism: An Introduction - edited by Stefan and Robert Ranisch"Nietzsche, the Overhuman and Tranhumanism" by Stefan (open access)"Beyond Humanism: Reflections on Trans and Post-humanism" by Stefan (a response to critics of the previous article)Nietzsche at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; } /* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */ Subscribe to the newsletter