The Disconnection Thesis (extended abstract)

David Roden, The Open University

Speculative Posthumanism and The Disconnection Thesis

Keywords: speculative posthumanism, wide descent, wide humanity, cognitive and value incommensurability, essentialism, flat ontology

In this essay I develop a philosophical schema for understanding the concept of the posthuman implied by singularity scenarios: Speculative Posthumanism (SP). SP states that wide descendants of current humans could cease to be human by virtue of a history of technical alteration. The major part of the essay clarifies its metaphysical presuppositions. The final part will consider the ethical implications of SP for current technological practice.