“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And when you look long into an abyss, the abyss also looks into you.”
–Friedrich Nietzsche

The Toronto Transhumanist Association is an organization which strives to promote proactive thinking about the ethical nature of technology in relation to the future of humanity. Transhumanism essentially aims at bringing the findings of modern science and human beings together in hopes of transforming the ‘default’ human condition and transcending it. Let’s be clear here: it is exactly what it sounds like. Think of Blade Runner, Star Trek: TNG’s Borg, Frankenstein, Brave New World (Huxley), Final Fantasy VII, and the latest version of Battlestar Galactica. The transhumanist cultural movement is open to the idea of altering the human condition, but in a positive way. Things like biotechnology, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology and life extension are just some of the key issues for which the group aims at raising awareness.

Frankenstein // 1831

There are objections to this idea, of course, most of which are dealt with in various art disciplines. While there are several criticisms that come with this idea of the ‘post-human’, all of them rest on a central presupposition: that there is something inherently fundamental to the human condition (whether it be natural or otherwise), and any attempts to alter our humanness, would problematize what it means to be human. There are serious ethical concerns that arise with the modification of humanity such as: What does it mean to be human? Or, to put it more philosophically: what do we define as human? Whatever we define as human and identify with as essential to the human condition will run the risk of being blurred or distorted if we alter ourselves using technology and science. So what constitutes a human being and a non-human being will become indiscernible.  That is, our humanity will cease to be unique the moment it changes. Mary Shelley’s ingenious novel Frankenstein has explored the question of what the transformed human being might turn into; where Frankenstein’s monster is dehumanized for the precise reason of being an abomination all the while exhibiting all the characteristics that make human beings unique (i.e. self-consciousness, emotion, capacity for abstract thought, etc). Not only will it be indiscernible to distinguish the human, but also perhaps the greater risk is that this indispensability will lead to objectifying the altered human as other (i.e. the monster in Frankenstein is treated as a monster even though he shares all the pros and cons of humanity with Victor Frankenstein). The Replicants in Blade Runner and the Human-Cylons in Battlestar Galactica share the status of objectified other along with the monster in Frankenstein, and these are merely some of the serious criticisms transhumanists must deal with. Genetic engineering and the prospect of successfully cloning human beings have raised the debate of the post-human with thinkers such as Jürgen Habermas and Peter Sloterdijk, and the controversy continues. It’s crucial to note that the Toronto Transhumanist Association along with the Transhumanist phenomena as a whole think that the transition from human to post-human can be achieved by ethical means, yet there can be no guarantee of this. For now, finding reminders of the ethical debate in examples such as Frankenstein, Blade Runner and Battlestar Galactic will ensure that the question of post-humanity will remain in public discourse.