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Re-Designing Humankind: The Rise of Cyborgs, a Desirable Goal?

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Philosophy and Design

The idea that human beings are imperfect is very old. But now, for the first time in history, some people, mainly scientists, have the previously unimaginable power to modify human beings. Redesigning humankind is, generally speaking, the result of a techno-scientific complex called “converging technologies”, and made up of biotechnologies, information technologies, nanotechnologies and cognitive sciences. However, we are more concerned here with electronic devices directly implanted into the human body. After an overview of what might happen to humankind, we also briefly discuss as a conclusion how bright such a future might be, considering that we have two different standpoints.

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Cerqui, D., Warwick, K. (2008). Re-Designing Humankind: The Rise of Cyborgs, a Desirable Goal?. In: Philosophy and Design. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6591-0_14

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