Mortal objects : identity and persistence through life and death /

Mortal objects : identity and persistence through life and death /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:	Luper, Steven, author.
Imprint:	Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2022. ©2022
Description:	vi, 205 pages ; 24 cm
Language:	English
Subject:	Object (Philosophy) Ontology. Organisms. Life. Death. Posthumanism. Death. Life. Object (Philosophy) Ontology. Organisms. Posthumanism.
Format:	Print Book
URL for this record:	http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/12716742

Hidden Bibliographic Details
ISBN:	9781108833721 1108833721 9781108981316 9781108988346
Notes:	Includes bibliographical references.
Summary:	"Introduction. One day, there will be no creatures like us. We cannot prevent the eventual demise of humanity. But shouldn't we at least postpone it as long as possible - say by putting people in spaceships and populating planets across the galaxy, as the late Stephen Hawking and a slew of science fiction writers recommend? I once thought that the end of human existence would be an obvious and unequivocal tragedy (what could possibly be worse than human extinction?). However, my current view on the matter is more complicated. There are different roads that humanity might take, and different ways it may end, some far better than others. Some futurists write about making people smarter and stronger, even enabling them to live far longer. Some want us to turn ourselves into better versions of ourselves - to "become" the better versions. Some seem to envision improving people so substantially as to be no longer recognizably human, which might best be described as replacing ourselves with creatures that are superior to us. In that case, we are contemplating the demise of humanity again- brought about with an eye to improving (upon?) ourselves. However, if we populate the world with beings who are better than us, would it be tragic? Could we at least take pride in the fact that the better beings were our legacy? (Would we want to be replaced by a wholly alien species that is stronger, brighter, and better than us? Would we help hurry it along?) Would other legacies serve as well? Would leaving behind well-written books and impressive scientific research reconcile us to extinction?"--
Other form:	Online version: Luper, Steven. Mortal objects Cambridge ; New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2022 9781108981316

Description
Summary:	How might we change ourselves without ending our existence? What could we become, if we had access to an advanced form of bioengineering that allowed us dramatically to alter our genome? Could we remain in existence after ceasing to be alive? What is it to be human? Might we still exist after changing ourselves into something that is not human? What is the significance of human extinction? Steven Luper addresses these questions and more in this thought-provoking study. He defends an animalist account, which says that we are organisms, but claims that we are also material objects. His book goes to the heart of the most complex questions about what we are and what we might become. Using case studies from the life sciences as well as thought experiments, Luper develops a new way of thinking about the nature of life and death, and whether and how human extinction matters.
Physical Description:	vi, 205 pages ; 24 cm
Bibliography:	Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN:	9781108833721 1108833721 9781108981316 9781108988346