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The PosthumanStock informationGeneral Fields
Special Fields
DescriptionThe Posthuman offers both an introduction and major contribution to contemporary debates on the posthuman. Digital 'second life', genetically modified food, advanced prosthetics, robotics and reproductive technologies are familiar facets of our globally linked and technologically mediated societies. This has blurred the traditional distinction between the human and its others, exposing the non-naturalistic structure of the human. The Posthuman starts by exploring the extent to which a post-humanist move displaces the traditional humanistic unity of the subject. Rather than perceiving this situation as a loss of cognitive and moral self-mastery, Braidotti argues that the posthuman helps us make sense of our flexible and multiple identities. Braidotti then analyzes the escalating effects of post-anthropocentric thought, which encompass not only other species, but also the sustainability of our planet as a whole. Because contemporary market economies profit from the control and commodification of all that lives, they result in hybridization, erasing categorical distinctions between the human and other species, seeds, plants, animals and bacteria. Author descriptionRosi Braidotti is a distinguished university professor at Utrecht University and founding director of the Centre for the Humanities. Table of contentsAcknowledgments vi Introduction 1 Chapter One: Post-humanism: Life beyond the Self 13 Chapter Two: Post-anthropocentrism: Life beyond the Species 55 Chapter Three: The Inhuman: Life beyond Death 105 Chapter Four: Posthuman Humanities; Life beyond Theory 143 Conclusion 186 References 198 Index 214 |