Transforming the Symbolic Animal: Ernst Cassirer and the Posthuman

Abstract

Addressing the issue of whether we ought to transform humanity presupposes a clear philosophical grasp of two terms central to the debate: human nature and technology. And yet this has been lacking in the debate over the posthuman. Transhumanists and bioconservatives lack a sufficiently thick and rich framework in which to address these issues. This essay seeks to address this lack, suggesting that Ernst Cassirer’s account of the human being as a symbolic animal provides a philosophy of culture, philosophical anthropology, and philosophy of technology that might serve as the building blocks of such a framework.