Abstract
Transhumanism is generally understood as a cultural and intellectual movement promoting human enhancement. But behind this movement lies a philosophical system that is less well known: extropianism.
Transhumanist ideas were first set out through Max More’s work, deploying from 1998 onwards. The concept of extropy, the extropian principles and the extropian epistemology form the basis for reflection from which the movement has been able to build and strengthen itself.
The development of extropianism occurred in two steps: with first a libertarian orientation followed in a second step by an orientation towards liberalism.
The wider dissemination of transhumanist ideas led Max More to nuance his political positions, adapting them to the ethical issues that emerged at the time.
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Notes
- 1.
T.O. Morrow’s message in the extropian mailing list. Retrieved April 30, 2019, from https://extropians.weidai.com/extropians.4Q97/0985.html.
- 2.
Max More’s message in the extropian mailing list. Retrieved April 30, 2019, from http://extropians.weidai.com/extropians.96/4101.html.
- 3.
More, Max. Transhumanism: Towards a Futurist Philosophy. Extropy, 1990, vol. 6 (Summer), pp. 6–12.
- 4.
More, Max. The Philosophy of Transhumanism. In: More, Max and Natasha Vita-More (ed.), The Transhumanist Reader: Classical and Contemporary Essays on the Science, Technology, and Philosophy of the Human Future. Chichester, West Sussex, UK: John Wiley & Sons, 2013, pp. 3–17.
- 5.
More, Max. Transhumanism: Towards a Futurist Philosophy. Extropy, 1990, vol. 6 (Summer), p. 8.
- 6.
Kurtz, Paul. The Re-enchantment: The New Enlightenment. Free Inquiry Magazine, vol. 24, n° 3, April/May 2004.
- 7.
“Introduction: Up from Atheism.” In: BUPP, Nathan. Meaning and Value in a Secular Age: Why Eupraxsophy Matters—The Writings of Paul Kurtz. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2012.
- 8.
More, Max. A Letter to Mother Nature. In: More, Max and Natasha Vita-More (ed.), op. cit., pp. 449–450.
- 9.
More, Max. Transhumanism: Towards a Futurist Philosophy. Extropy, 1990, vol. 6 (Summer), pp. 6–12, p. 6.
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Bour, S. (2022). On Max More’s Extropianism. In: Jorion, P. (eds) Humanism and its Discontents. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67004-7_9
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