Nathan VAN CAMP Redesigning Life The emerging development of genetic enhancement technologies has recently become the focus of a public and philosophical debate between proponents and opponents of a liberal eugenics – that is, the use of Eugenics, Biopolitics, and the Challenge these technologies without any overall direction or governmental control. Inspired by Foucault’s, Agamben’s of the Techno-Human Condition and Esposito’s writings about biopower and biopolitics, Life Redesigning the author sees both positions as equally problematic, as both presuppose the existence of a stable, autonomous subject capable of making decisions concerning the future of human nature, while in the age of genetic technology the nature of this subjectivity shall be less an origin than an effect of such decisions. Bringing together a biopolitical critique of the way this controversial issue has been dealt with in liberal moral and political philosophy with a philosophical analysis of the nature of and the relation between life, politics, and technology, the author sets out to outline the contours of a more responsible engagement with genetic technologies based on the idea that technology is an intrinsic condition of humanity. Nathan VAN CAMP Nathan VAN Philosophy Philosophy Nathan Van Camp is postdoctoral researcher at the University of Antwerp, Belgium. He focuses on continental philosophy, political theory, biopolitics, and critical theory. & Politics ISBN 978-2-87574-281-0 Philosophie & Politique 27 www.peterlang.com P.I.E. Peter Lang Nathan VAN CAMP Redesigning Life The emerging development of genetic enhancement technologies has recently become the focus of a public and philosophical debate between proponents and opponents of a liberal eugenics – that is, the use of Eugenics, Biopolitics, and the Challenge these technologies without any overall direction or governmental control. Inspired by Foucault’s, Agamben’s of the Techno-Human Condition and Esposito’s writings about biopower and biopolitics, Life Redesigning the author sees both positions as equally problematic, as both presuppose the existence of a stable, autonomous subject capable of making decisions concerning the future of human nature, while in the age of genetic technology the nature of this subjectivity shall be less an origin than an effect of such decisions. Bringing together a biopolitical critique of the way this controversial issue has been dealt with in liberal moral and political philosophy with a philosophical analysis of the nature of and the relation between life, politics, and technology, the author sets out to outline the contours of a more responsible engagement with genetic technologies based on the idea that technology is an intrinsic condition of humanity. Nathan VAN CAMP Nathan VAN Philosophy Philosophy Nathan Van Camp is postdoctoral researcher at the University of Antwerp, Belgium. He focuses on continental philosophy, political theory, biopolitics, and critical theory. & Politics Philosophie & Politique 27 www.peterlang.com P.I.E. Peter Lang Redesigning Life Eugenics, Biopolitics, and the Challenge of the Techno-Human Condition P.I.E. Peter Lang Bruxelles Bern Berlin Frankfurt am Main New York Oxford Wien Nathan Van Camp Redesigning Life Eugenics, Biopolitics, and the Challenge of the Techno-Human Condition Philosophy & Politics No.27 Published with the support of the University Foundation of Belgium An electronic version of this book is freely available, thanks to the support of libraries working with Knowledge Unlatched. KU is a collaborative initiative designed to make high quality books Open Access for the public good. More information about the initiative and links to the Open Access version can be found at www.knowledgeunlatched.org This publication has been peer-reviewed. © Nathan Van Camp, 2015 P.I.E. Peter Lang SA Éditions scientifiques internationales Bruxelles, 2015 1 avenue Maurice, B-1050 Bruxelles, Belgique www.peterlang.com ISSN 1376-0920 ISBN 978-2-87574-281-0 eISBN 978-3-0352-6544-6 D/2015/5678/40 Open Access: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial No Derivatives 4.0 unported license. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ CIP available from the Library of Congress USA, and the British Library, GB. Bibliographic information published by “Die Deutsche Bibliothek” “Die Deutsche Bibliothek” lists this publication in the “Deutsche Nationalbibliografie”; detailed bibliographic data is available in the Internet at <http://dnb.de>. Table of Contents Acknowledgments ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 9 Introduction .......................................................................................... 11 CHAPTER ONE Enhanced Life ...........................................................................................17 Redesigning Life .............................................................................. 17 The Return of Eugenics .................................................................... 21 The Liberal Eugenics ........................................................................ 25 Life needs to be Protected ................................................................ 31 The New Eugenics and the End of Liberalism ................................. 38 CHAPTER TWO Bare Life................................................................................................ 47 The Biopolitical Turn ....................................................................... 47 From Life Politics to a Politics of Life ............................................. 49 The Power to “Make Life” and “Let Die” ........................................ 55 Existence Without Life ..................................................................... 62 Sacred Life ........................................................................................ 72 Form-Of-Life .................................................................................... 82 CHAPTER THREE Enframed Life ...................................................................................... 89 Heidegger and Biotechnology .......................................................... 89 The Grown and the Made ................................................................. 91 Dasein and Life ................................................................................. 96 The Essence of Biotechnology ....................................................... 100 CHAPTER FOUR Natal Life ............................................................................................ 109 Hannah Arendt and Biotechnology ................................................ 109 The Techno-Human Condition ....................................................... 111 Natality Between Necessity and Freedom ...................................... 114 7 The Symbolic Reduction of the Event of Parturition ..................... 118 The Prematurity of Natal Life ........................................................ 122 CHAPTER FIVE Prosthetic Life .................................................................................... 127 The Forgetting of Epimetheus ........................................................ 127 Deconstructing the Anthropological Difference ............................. 130 Epiphylogenetic Life ...................................................................... 137 Technology and Communicative Reason ....................................... 143 Inevitable Enhancement ................................................................. 153 References ........................................................................................... 159 8 Acknowledgments Some of the work presented in this book has already appeared in aca- demic journals. For material that is presented in Chapters 1, 3, 4, and 5, the author acknowledges its original publication in a slightly differ- ent form in Humana Mente: Journal of Philosophical Studies, Journal of Philosophy of Life, Symposium: Canadian Journal of Continental Philosophy, Between the Species, and Journal for Cultural Research. The author sincerely thanks the editors of these journals for their permission to publish this work. I am grateful to Gabriel Fragnière and Hendrik Opdebeeck, the series editors for Philosophy & Politics at Peter Lang, for publishing this book. My thanks go out, as well, to the managing director at PIE Peter Lang, Emilie Menz, for her patience, thoroughness, and belief in the project. This book is derived from my doctoral dissertation which was sub- mitted to and successfully defended at the Department of Philosophy of the University of Antwerp (Belgium) in May 2013. A project like this one requires assistance from many quarters. I give special thanks to my parents, Marc Van Camp and Anita De Hoef, for their unconditional sup- port throughout my extended stay at the University of Antwerp. I am profoundly grateful. I also thank my brothers, grandparents, and family- in-law. They were always there when I needed them, and I am truly grate- ful for that. Others whom I want to acknowledge here are all good friends who I have known for many years and who have given me the courage and strength to pursue my dreams: Bert De Smedt, Lente Dewilde, Joris Godefroit, Ines Borgonjon, Pieter Thomaes, Stephanie Williams, Nicolas Dobbeleir, Stefan Engelen, Stien Smessaert, Davy Rombouts, Kathelijne Delmeire, Dennis Soete, Griet Debussche, Winnok De Vos, Katrien Van Den Broeck,