Essays in the Philosophy of Humanism Published on behalf of the American Humanist Association and The Institute for Humanist Studies Essays in the Philosophy of Humanism Editor John R. Shook, American Humanist Association Consulting Editor Anthony Pinn, Rice University, USA Editorial Board Louise Antony, University of Massachusetts, USA; Arthur Caplan, New York University, USA; Patricia Churchland, University of California, USA; Franz de Waal, Emory University, USA; Peter Derkx, University of Humanistics, Netherlands; Greg Epstein, Harvard University, USA; Owen Flanagan, Duke University, USA; James Giordano, Georgetown University, USA; Rebecca Goldstein, USA; Anthony Clifford Grayling, New College of the Humanities, United Kingdom; Susan Hansen, University of Pittsburgh, USA; Jennifer Michael Hecht, USA; Marian Hillar, Houston Humanists, USA; Sikivu Hutchinson, Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations, USA; Philip Kitcher, Columbia University, USA; Stephen Law, University of London, United Kingdom; Cathy Legg, University of Waikato, New Zealand; Jonathan Moreno, University of Pennsylvania, USA; Stephen Pinker, Harvard University, USA; Charlene Haddock Seigfried, Purdue University, USA; Michael Shermer, The Skeptics Society, USA; Alistair J. Sinclair, Centre for Dualist Studies, United Kingdom; Stan van Hooft, Deakin University, Australia; Judy Walker, USA; Sharon Welch, Meadville Theological Seminary, USA Essays in the Philosophy of Humanism publishes scholarly papers concerning philosophical, historical, or interdisciplinary aspects of humanism, or that deal with the application of humanist principles to problems of everyday life. EPH encourages the exploration of aspects and applications of humanism, in the broadest sense of “philosophical” as a search for self-understanding, life wisdom, and improvement to the human condition. The topic of humanism is also understood to embrace its thoughtful manifestations across the widest breadth of cultures and historical periods, and non-western perspectives are encouraged. Inquiry into humanism may also focus on its contemporary affirmation of a progressive philosophy of life that, without theism and other supernatural beliefs, affirms the ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good of humanity. EPH welcomes multi-disciplinary approaches that arouse broad interest across the humanities and social sciences, and inspire attention to novel and needed developments to humanistic thinking. Essays in the Philosophy of Humanism is published twice a year, in print and online, by Equinox Publishing Ltd., Office 415, The Workstation, 15 Paternoster Row, Sheffield, S1 2BX Manuscripts should be submitted in accordance with the guidelines supplied on our web site (http://www.equinoxpub. com/journals/index.php/EPH/index). The Journal does not publish unsolicited reviews; please contact the Editor before submitting a review. 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This journal participates in CrossRef, the collaborative reference linking service that turns citations into hyperlinks. © Equinox Publishing Ltd. 2016 Typeset and edited by Queenston Publishing, Hamilton, Canada. Essays in the Philosophy of Humanism (print) ISSN 1522-7340 Essays in the Philosophy of Humanism (online) ISSN 2052-8388 Printed in the UK by CPI Antony Rowe. Essays in the Philosophy of Humanism Volume 23.2 December 2015 Contents Interview The Age of Transhumanism Has Begun: Will It Bring 133 Humanism to Its End? An Interview with Roland Benedikter Katja Siepmann and Annabella McIntosh Articles Synthetic Biology and Religion 159 William Daley Pragmatism, Possibility, and Human Development 175 Stephen Rowe God, Geography, and Justice 189 Daniel Linford and William R Patterson A Renaissance of Globalization: A Theory of Compassionate 217 Humanity Tony Svetelj Self and Transcendence 235 Charles W. Vail Defending the Humanistic Virtue of Holiday 265 Commercialism James A. Montanye Editorial Clarification 277 Essays in the Philosophy of Humanism 23.2 (2015) 133–158 ISSN 1522-7340 (print) ISSN 2052-8388 (online) doi:10.1558/eph.v23i2.29671 The Age of Transhumanism Has Begun: Will It Bring Humanism to Its End? An Interview with Roland Benedikter Katja Siepmann and Annabella McIntosh Independent Scholars [email protected] Abstract This interview with Roland Benedikter, the European scholar of technology futures and politics, discusses the emergence of biological and computing technologies for transforming humanity. In this wide-ranging discussion, Benedikter discusses many ethical, social, and political implications to the application of these enhancing technologies and their coming political impli- cations. Transhumanism, according to Benedikter, will represent both a powerful social ideology and a serious political agenda. How will humanism respond? Keywords transhumanism, technology, bioenhancement, politics, ideology, democracy Part I The founding of the Transhumanist Party of the United States, the intensify- ing of the USA BRAIN-Initiative and the start of Google’s project “Ending death” were important milestones in the year 2014, and potential further steps towards a “transhumanist” society. Probably the most significant devel- opment was that the radical international technology community became a concrete political force, not by chance starting its global political initiative in the USA According to political scientist and sociologist Roland Benedikter, “transhumanist” politics has momentous growth potential but with uncertain © Equinox Publishing Ltd. 2016, Office 415, The Workstation, 15 Paternoster Row, Sheffield, S1 2BX 134 Katja Siepmann and Annabella McIntosh outcomes. The coming years will probably see a dialogue between humanism and transhumanism in—and about—most crucial fields of human endeavor, with strong political implications that will challenge, and could change the traditional concepts, identities and strategies of Left and Right. The trend is so broad and intense that the question has to be posited: Will the age of Transhumanism bring Humanism, as we know it, to its end? And how should Humanism react? Question: In the book you co-authored with Pentagon-advisor and George- town-neuroscientist and neuroethicist James Giordano “Neuroscience and Neuro- ethics: Impacting Human Futures” you state that these two fields at the interface between science and politics might lead to bigger changes in the coming years than either conventional politics or science. The reason: Technology is becoming an increasingly more powerful political and social force—not only sectorially or nationally, but globally. Benedikter: In recent years technology has indeed emerged as a concrete social and political force. 2014 has seen a noticeable intensification of that trend. The traditional political players are poorly prepared for it. What, for example, nowadays takes place in just one year at the interface between the human brain and technology, until recently required a decade. It is an expo- nential development. The mechanization of society and humanity is occur- ring within many disciplines– for example, in the form of neurotechnology, which is increasingly used for medical and both dual-use and direct military purposes. But there are other fields too. From neuroeconomics to, neuroaes- thetics, neurosprituality, neurosociology and even neuropolitics, the “neuro”- prefix is becoming omnipresent in the understanding and meaning of our time and civilization—and with regard to its self-ascribed identity. What exactly is going on? Supporters of “human enhancement” (Savulescu and Bostrom