EM BUSCA DA TRANSCENDÊNCIA: OS OXFORDIANOS E OS DEBATES EM TORNO DO TRANSUMANISMO

Este texto mapeia o início do debate em torno do movimento transumanista na Inglaterra, do início até meados do século XX, buscando perceber seus principais argumentos. Para isso analisamos os escritos de autores como Julian Huxley, Haldane e Bernal, que foram os fundadores do transumanismo contemporâneo, contrapondo com as ideias de Tolkien, Lewis e Michael Polanyi, autores que trafegaram intelectualmente por Oxford e que eram críticos do movimento. Lewis e Tolkien procuraram tratar das implicações do pensamento transumanista através principalmente de suas ficções (mas também em cartas e outros textos), ilustrando de maneira mais clara para o grande público as possíveis consequências desse movimento. Polanyi, enquanto filósofo da ciência, partindo de sua experiência como cientista, pensou no contexto maior dos objetivos desse movimento e do progresso da ciência, se preocupando também com a planificação da ciência e do estabelecimento de uma tecnocracia. Os defensores do transumanismo defendiam que os avanços da ciência e da tecnologia deveriam ser empregados para superar as limitações da natureza humana. Já os críticos argumentavam em favor da cautela, uma vez que as mudanças poderiam ser para pior, sem chances de voltar atrás e viam com ceticismo o progresso tecnológico. Assim, analisar esses debates nos ajuda a compreender o desenvolvimento da ciência e tecnologia no período e nos permite perceber os embates éticos adjacentes, bem como as inter-relações entre estes campos e a sociedade, num período de amplo desenvolvimento tecnológico e novas possibilidades científicas de melhoramento da biologia humana.

Nostalgia de futuro: el transhumanismo y la libertad trascendental

En el presente artículo se analiza la noción de nostalgia de futuro para comprender su significado en el contexto de la filosofía transhumanista y en el de la filosofía de Leonardo Polo. Se ha elegido como representantes del transhumanismo a los que históricamente son sus padres intelectuales: Julian Huxley y Fereidoun M. Esfandiary, quien más tarde cambió su nombre a FM-2030. El objetivo del artículo es analizar las dos filosofías para profundizar en el deseo de trascendencia que cada una desarrolla y ver hasta qué punto es posible un diálogo entre ambas.

Transhumanism: from Julian Huxley to UNESCO

Julian Huxley, founder and the first Director-General of UNESCO, is at the heart of contemporary debates on the nature and objectives of the concept of transhumanism, which he first used in the early 1950s. Therefore, the analysis of his idea of transhumanism - a tool to improve the quality of life and the condition of man - should lead us to question his heritage in terms of philosophy that inspires UNESCO’s action as it seeks to build a comprehensive approach to artificial intelligence that takes into account, among other things, the values and principles of universal ethics and aims to derive the best from the use of this technology. This title where the British biologist, the elder brother of the famous science fiction writer, Aldous Huxley, author of the Brave New World, coexists with the United Nations Organization in charge of Education of Science and Culture is obvious for those who know the history of this international organization or who like radio games: Julian Huxley was appointed as the first Director-General of UNESCO in 1946. But, beyond this evidence, there is a deeper link that highlights the history of the renewal of the idea of transhumanism (I) and questions about the role that UNESCO has, among the other international organizations (II).

Nurturing Intellectual Warriors: A Nationalistic Approach

Man enjoys his intellect more than an animal enjoys its senses. Thirst for knowledge is inherent in man and no one likes to be ignorant. Knowledge alone can remove ignorance. Sir Julian Huxley, renowned biologist defines the new goal of evolution at the human level as refinement of intellect which gives fulfilment. It is easy to train and purify our impure intellect, if we know the different aspects and functions of Buddhi. The pure intellect has many characteristics such as – Alertness, Discrimination, Determination, Subtlety, Steadiness, Maturity, Vastness, Simplicity, Sharpness, and Positivity. The intense and purer the intellect (Buddhi), the greater the perfection attained. That country is great which can produce more intellectual people in different fields. Intellectual strength (buddhibalam) alone can play a vital role in a nation’s progress. We need to process our psychic energy into - creative, constructive and making for happiness and all-round welfare. This kind of development is what makes education a blessing to society. That is the goal of India in our present condition when we are developing into a constructive, developed nation.

Eating game: proteins, international conservation and the rebranding of African wildlife, 1955–1965

Around 1960, leading figures in the international conservation circuit – such as Julian Huxley, Frank Fraser Darling and E. Barton Worthington – successfully propagated new visions about the value of undomesticated African mammals. Against traditional ideas, they presented these mammals as a highly efficient source of protein for growing African populations. In line with this vision, they challenged non-interventionist ideals of nature preservation, and launched proposals for active management through game ‘ranching’ and ‘cropping’. As such, they created a new socio-technical imaginary for Africa's future, in which the consumption of wildlife meat took up a central position. This article explores the motivations of Western conservationists for this drastic rebranding. It argues that the rationale of considering African wildlife in terms of protein played an important symbolical role at various levels. It was crucial in the reorganization of the transnational networks of conservation, but also in the boosting of their scientific reputation, in the restructuring of their institutional ties, and in their attempts to maintain an authoritative position for Western ecologists in a rapidly decolonizing world.

A quadratic approach to allometry yields promising results for the study of growth

Julian Huxley (1924) came to the conclusion that intra-specific growth usually follows a sequence of power curves. So Huxley claimed that during growth sudden changes in the growth rate can occur. The restudy of his material, however, reveals that his observations closely follow single quadratic curves. As a result the intra-specific allometry studied by Huxley is comparable to ontogenetic allometry. The quadratic factor of the quadratic equations obtained, represents the growth rate; it shows the constant increase (positive factor) or decrease (minus factor) of one of the measurements for a constant increase in the other measurement with which it is compared. The quadratic factor explains the entire growth process and is the same for the smaller (younger) and larger (older) specimens. It could probably permit the prediction of the shape of larger and/or smaller animals not yet found, or give a clue to some evolutionary changes. By using the quadratic parabola there is no need to postulate “sudden changes in the growth curve” and so it appears that Huxley’s power curve can be abandoned.

The End

This chapter talks about the possibility of a life without religion, without God. Many people think of Darwinism as an alternative religion. Julian Huxley actually wrote a book called Religion without Revelation. Edward O. Wilson is of the same mind-set. Anyone who knows their scriptures has to be forcibly reminded of the Old Testament prophets on reading Richard Dawkins's The God Delusion. The chapter discusses the secular notion of purpose through history, the idea of social or cultural progress—something with a goal toward which history is directed. Steven Pinker argues that, despite suffering and other acts of violence, the world nevertheless is becoming a friendlier place. Science and technology seem as much the problem as the cure. This said, one can see progress in limited areas, and not just in science and technology.

Darwinism

This chapter describes how Charles Darwin changed the world after publishing On the Origin of Species in 1859 and The Descent of Man in 1871. Although there were those who continued generally to stand firm against evolution, even the religious accepted that organisms, including humans, are the end point of a long, slow process of natural development. As in the Hans Christian Andersen tale about the lad who said openly that the king has no clothes, so when Darwin said “evolution,” almost everyone said that they had known it all along! Natural selection had more mixed success. Everyone accepted it to some extent. Julian Huxley, for instance, always had some doubts about its universal power and applicability, but when it came to humans physically, he was fully convinced of its overwhelming importance. This said, the scientific community was slower in coming to full acceptance, and it was more in the popular domain that natural selection—and even more sexual selection—was a huge success. Poets, novelists, politicians, and many others also harped on and on about its importance.