Abstract:

Transhumanism longs not only for the enhancement of human capabilities but also for the end of suffering; that longing conflates the destiny of the individual with that of the human species. This essay examines the ideals that are most central to the transhumanist imaginary, showing that they are less exotic than is suggested by their aura of futurity, and that their implications for the present are largely thanatopolitical in nature. Examining Don DeLillo’s novel of cryogenics, Zero K, and Michel Houellebecq’s utopian/dystopian novel, The Possibility of an Island, the essay discusses the role of teleology in transhumanist thought, and its connections to mainstream intellectual and ideological tendencies in postwar biopolitics, particularly the figure of rehabilitation. This is contrasted with the stubborn presence in the transhuman imaginary of contingent embodiment, which provides some hope in the face of thanatopolitical despair.

摘要：

超人类主义不仅渴望增强人类能力，而且渴望终结苦难。渴望将个人的命运与人类的命运融合在一起。本文考察了超人类主义想象中最重要的理想，表明它们比其未来主义光环所暗示的具有更少的异国情调，并且它们对当下的影响本质上是政治上的。检查唐·德利洛的低温学小说《零K》和米歇尔·霍勒贝克的乌托邦/反乌托邦小说《岛屿的可能性》，本文讨论了目的论在超人类主义思想中的作用，以及它与战后生物政治中主流思想和意识形态倾向之间的联系，尤其是复兴的形象。这与超人想象中的顽固存在形成鲜明对比，它在面对全面政治绝望的情况下提供了一些希望。