Three Visions of the Human Future: Transhumanist, Conservationist, and Nietzschean

Abstract

This article explores philosophical perspectives on humanity’s future by reading Friedrich Nietzsche into ongoing debates about the promise and dangers of transhumanism (the view that emerging technologies should be used to guide the next phase of human evolution). I show that Nietzsche’s thought represents an important corrective to the binary oppositions that too often characterize the current conversation. On the one hand, his reservations about modern science writ large can help us understand better the risks of transhumanism’s millenarian aspiration to remake the human condition. On the other hand, unlike conservationist opponents of human enhancement who insist that our enduring nature must be preserved at all costs, Nietzsche acknowledges that human nature may need to evolve in the face of unprecedented technological, ecological, and political challenges.