Designer Evolution: A Transhumanist Manifesto

by Simon Young

Forewords by Dr. Aubrey de Grey (Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge) and Robert A. Freitas Jr. (Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Molecular Manufacturing)"A rare and uplifting vision of the biological future we can and should create for ourselves." – Dr. Gregory Fahy, Chief Scientific Officer, Vice President, 21st Century MedicineThe debate about the ethics of human biotechnology or genetic engineering is one of the most important cultural issues of our time. "Transhumanism" is the philosophy that most of all supports genetic science and biotechnology, yet the public knows little about this emerging philosophy. Transhumanism declares unequivocal support for the attempt to eliminate disease, defeat death, and enhance the body and mind beyond the limitations of the age-old human condition.In Designer Evolution Simon Young presents a polemical espousal of transhumanist philosophy and a trenchant attack on its critics, the "Bio-Luddites." The author calls for a rejection of premodern superstition and postmodern nihilism in favor of a renewed belief in human progress through scientific rationality.In an age when cynicism, fatalism, and nihilism are rife, Designer Evolution will rekindle a feeling of optimism about the future of our species. This is a concise, reader-friendly introduction to a vitally important philosophy that will become difficult to ignore as advances in biotechnology increasingly claim the headlines in the coming decades.

417 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 30, 2005

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Simon Young was awarded a starred First in Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic from Cambridge University, as well as the Chadwick Prize for Celtic studies. Since then he has lived in Spain, Ireland and Italy. The author of many academic articles, he has also written about the Dark Ages for History Today, the Spectator, and the Guardian.

Reviews

[Joshua Clayton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book and you leave it with a better understanding of the present, the future, some of the past and how reality really is.