An interdisciplinary academic conference | contemplating the future of humanity | a meeting place for philosophy, science, technology, culture and art
Monday, 24.10.2011 | The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute
Part of the events of IconTLV – Israel's International Science Fiction and Fantasy Festival
The terms “Posthumanism” and “Transhumanism” name cultural and philosophical frameworks that emerged in the wake of modern disruptions of humanism. Both concepts signal a crisis in the philosophical conception of “human being” and in our definition and understanding of humanity and humanism, a crisis which may be traced as far back as Darwin, Nietzsche and Freud and which takes full shape in contemporary thought about technology and virtuality. Man-machine interfaces, virtual worlds, genetic manipulation, the eradication of disease and the dream of a radical reprogramming of human biology set post-humanism and trans-humanism at the centre of current cultural, scientific, artistic, philosophical and even political discourse.
We would like to invite proposals that discuss the following issues
- (Post)human rights: How does the changing definition of humanity affect political and ethical issues? Do post-humans have human rights?
- Post-humanity in history: Is the post-human a product of technology and science, or is it an ever-present potential in the human? Have post-humans always been with us?
- Post-humanism and religion: Does the crisis of secular humanism mean a return to religion as the discourse of the other?
- Post-humanism in popular imagination: how is the post-human condition represented in film, literature, pop-culture and art?
- Post-humanism and the sciences: How do recent developments in science and technology inform post-human concerns?
Academic Committee
- Dr. Ruben Borg, Faculty of Humanities, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute
- Dr. Elana Gomel, Faculty of Humanities, Tel-Aviv University
Conference Organization
- Mr. Uri Aviv, General and Artistic Director, the IconTLV Festival
For details and participation
Please contact Mr. Uri Aviv
Or Ms. Ahuva Goldstand
