Transhumanists Launch Campaign for Animal Personhood

Transhumanists Launch Campaign for Animal Personhood » Secondhand Smoke | A First Things Blog: Transhumanists have a deep antipathy for human exceptionalism. Which isn’t surprising–given its philosophy that humans are not good enough, smart enough, strong enough, beautiful enough, or healthy enough–and we all die so soon! If human life is so lacking, why would they consider us exceptional?

Human exceptionalism is the prime philosophical impediment to the acceptance of transhumanism. If we are going to engage in Utopian manipulation and remaking of human biology and existential meaning, humans must be reduced in moral status to merely another animal in the forest. Once we morally demoted ourselves, the would-be redesigners would have a much freer hand since nothing of fundamental value would be at risk. Undermining human exceptionalism may be most easily undertaken indirectly and by stealth–that is by convincing society to elevate other species to our moral status.