Transhumanism and the dispute over the concept of Life: between biological life and the death of death

Abstract

A central characteristic of the present time is the main role that digital life has acquired since the emergence of platform capitalism or surveillance capitalism, and of transhumanism as the dominant ideology of this new era. In this context, the forms of governing life are transformed, and algorithmic logic becomes dominant. The proliferation of electronic devices that capture data about the lives of individuals and populations has become omnipresent, making surveillance capitalism the omniscient Big Other of actions, preferences and desires. The scientific basis of this movement has its epistemic support in the exponential development of neurosciences and neurotechnologies, molecular biology and computer sciences. We understand that Ray Kurzweil, Google's artificial intelligence mentor, is one of the main references of transhumanism, with one of his exemplary works being "The Medicine of Immortality". We interrogate the text to identify the main principles of the transhumanist proposal.