Christian Transformation of Greek Humanism and Its Implications for Christian - Confucian Dialogue

LAI, Pan-chiu 한국조직신학회 2008 組織神學論叢 Vol.22 No.-

Christianity and humanism seem to be two conflicting worldviews. Yet, as two important traditions of Western culture, they have inevitably interacted with each other in the course of history. In their encounters in modern West, Christianity is always cautious of the anthropocentric tendency of Humanism and critical towards the atheistic danger brought about by secular humanism; meanwhile, secular humanism tends to expel transcendence from its philosophical roots, proclaims itself as the adjudicator of human destiny, and ignores religion or assigns it to the sphere of private emotions. On the one hand, secular humanism seems to have forgotten the fact that all its lofty ideals -- the sacredness of human life, freedom, equality, and fraternity -- are inextricably entangled with Christian values.3 On the other hand, it is also important to note that ancient Greek culture as a historical source of Western humanism has had a deep impact on Christian theology. As far as etymology is concerned, many key Christian terms, such as theologia and ekklesia, come from ancient Greek culture. From its very beginning, the spread of Christianity in the ‘gentile’ world was shaped and resisted by Greek culture at the same time. As a consequence, there emerged a theological tradition that critically inherited and transformed ancient Greek culture. As the following discussion will indicate, this Christian adoption and transformation of Greek culture includes the absorption of the humanistic spirit of ancient Greece. This paper aims at investigating how early Christian thinkers inherited and transformed Greek humanistic tradition and in turn gave birth to the tradition of Christian humanism. As many concepts became separated from and opposite to each other only in the modern time rather than starting from the very beginning, Christianity and humanism were not diametrically opposed to each other throughout Western cultural history. There are some actual cases showing that at some points the two traditions were intertwined and even highly integrated. These cases indicate that there is no inevitable or irreconcilable conflict between the two traditions. Christianity and humanism seem to be two conflicting worldviews. Yet, as two important traditions of Western culture, they have inevitably interacted with each other in the course of history. In their encounters in modern West, Christianity is always cautious of the anthropocentric tendency of Humanism and critical towards the atheistic danger brought about by secular humanism; meanwhile, secular humanism tends to expel transcendence from its philosophical roots, proclaims itself as the adjudicator of human destiny, and ignores religion or assigns it to the sphere of private emotions. On the one hand, secular humanism seems to have forgotten the fact that all its lofty ideals -- the sacredness of human life, freedom, equality, and fraternity -- are inextricably entangled with Christian values.3 On the other hand, it is also important to note that ancient Greek culture as a historical source of Western humanism has had a deep impact on Christian theology. As far as etymology is concerned, many key Christian terms, such as theologia and ekklesia, come from ancient Greek culture. From its very beginning, the spread of Christianity in the ‘gentile’ world was shaped and resisted by Greek culture at the same time. As a consequence, there emerged a theological tradition that critically inherited and transformed ancient Greek culture. As the following discussion will indicate, this Christian adoption and transformation of Greek culture includes the absorption of the humanistic spirit of ancient Greece. This paper aims at investigating how early Christian thinkers inherited and transformed Greek humanistic tradition and in turn gave birth to the tradition of Christian humanism. As many concepts became separated from and opposite to each other only in the modern time rather than starting from the very beginning, Christianity and humanism were not diametrically opposed to each other throughout Western cultural history. There are some actual cases showing that at some points the two traditions were intertwined and even highly integrated. These cases indicate that there is no inevitable or irreconcilable conflict between the two traditions.

인본주의 교육 비판

정재걸 동양사회사상학회 2019 사회사상과 문화 Vol.22 No.3

This study aims to reveal the problems of the humanism and to suggest the educational alternatives. The critics on humanism have been increased recently from the two events. One is the environmental destructions that have been expressed by the name of Anthropocene. The other is the advents of the trans-humanism that could be realized by the development of artificial intelligence. The humanism became the new religion after the renaissance era and it made a boundary line between man and woman, white and colored, human and nature. Of course the former ruled and discriminate the latter. At last the human will become the god in the era of trans-humanism. The 『Diamond Sutra』 suggest the ideas to overcome the humanism by the 4 images(四相)-humanism. We can overcome the ego by the I(我相)- humanism. We can overcome the ‘human first’ by the man(人相)-humanism. We can overcome the ‘life priority’ by the life(衆生相)-humanism and the ‘perpetuity priority’ by the infinite(壽者相)-humanism. I suggest the 4 overcoming humanism curriculums by the 4 images in 『Diamond Sutra』. That are ‘to become the opponent’, ‘to become the animals and plants’, ‘to become the earth’ and ‘to become the nothing’. 이 논문은 인본주의와 인본주의 교육의 문제점을 밝혀내고 그 극복방안을 찾기 위한 것이다. 최근 인본주의에 대한 비판이 강력하게 제기되고 있는데 여기에는 두 가지 계기가 있다. 그 한 가지는 지질학적으로‘인류세’로 표현되는 환경오염의 심각성이다. 또 한 가지는 인공지능의발달에 따른 트랜스휴머니즘의 등장이다. 인본주의는 인간의 존엄성을 최고의 가치로 삼은 르네상스 인본주의 이후 하나의 종교가 되었다. 이후 나타난 다양한 인본주의들은 결국 성차화된 타자로서의 여성, 인종화된 타자로서의 토착인, 자연화된 타자로서의동식물과 환경을 경계선 밖으로 밀어내고 착취하고 억압하였다. 그리고마침내 트랜스휴머니즘에 이르러 인간은 생물학적 토대를 벗어나, 영생을누리고 무소불위의 권력을 행사할 수 있는 신과 같은 존재가 되었다. 『금강경』은 ‘사상(四相)’이라는 개념을 통해 인본주의를 근본적으로 극복할 수 있는 대안을 제시하고 있다. 즉 아상-인본주의를 통해 피부경계선을 중심으로 한 나를 극복해야 함을 말하고, 인상-인본주의를 통해인간과 동식물의 경계선을 없앨 것을 주장하며, 중생상-인본주의를 통해 생명과 무생명의 경계를 그리고 수자상-인본주의를 통해 유한한 것과 무한한 것의 경계를 넘어설 것을 말하고 있다. 이런 사상-인본주의를 교육에 적용하여, 나는 인본주의 극복을 위한 교육을 ‘상대방-되기’, ‘동식물-되기’, ‘지구-되기’, ‘아무 것도 아닌 것-되기’의 4단계 교육과정으로 제안하였다.

사이드의 휴머니즘론과 이의 한국적 전유

고부응(Boo Eung Koh) 한국비평이론학회 2011 비평과이론 Vol.16 No.1

‘Human beings’ seem to have disappeared in today’s literary and cultual theories. This is partly because the concept of man or human being is too broad and ambiguous to be included in theoretical discourses. However, the more serious causes of the disappearance can be found in the trend of anti-humanism in recent theories. Human agency is being excluded in the structuralist and post-structuralist understanding of society and history. The historical and political abuse of humanism is another cause of the disappearance. We see such examples in the Nazi’s genocidal violence on Jews and the American invasion into another countries in the name of humanism. In spite of anti-humanistic theories and historical abuses of humanism. the value of human beings cannot be discarded in the study of the human history and society. Edward Said’s Humanism and Democratic Criticism is an attempt to construct a new humanism in which traditional Euro-centric inhumane humanism can be overcome. He says the new humanism’s project is “to be critical of humanism in the name of humanism.” For this, he revives the philological tradition of language studies, and thereby the tradition of humanities. As far as the humanities is the study of human achievements in history, it is the stakeholder of humanism. Consequently, the humanities and humanism cannot be separated from each other. For Said, the new humanism is receptive in that it reserves the tradition of philology and is resistant in that humanists should be critical of today’s inhumane violences of political and economic powers. In order for any imported theory or thesis to be relevant in a given society, it needs to be properly appropriated to the society. A relevant appropriation of Saidian humanism in the Korean society would be to disclose the treacherous humanism of powers, especially transnational capitalistic powers. Today’s Korean society is in need of humanist scholars’ intervention into the widespread political and economic violation of human values.

우발성의 휴머니즘 - 손창섭의 소설을 대상으로

김주언 한국비교문학회 2010 比較文學 Vol.0 No.52

The contingence does not intervene in any other causes, purpose, necessity or providence. Its concepts are ontological and metaphysical which are based on the existential coincidence. A novel of Son, Chang-sub's which has existential peculiarity could be understandable through the concept of this 'contingence' than any other concepts, and that is the conclusion of this study. The novels, which have a naturally metaphysical question, tend to have somewhat anti-moral aspect because the metaphysical question cannot be handled within the boundary of human ethic only. And also Son, Chang-sub's self-torture and self-disclosure wouldn't be restricted under the narrow meaning of moral law. Moreover if it is interpreted with existentialism which has influenced to Son, Chang-sub, the behavior of charter in his novel would rather prove the evidence of humanism. The humanism of Son, Chang-sub's generally extends the possibility of human relationship over the sympathy, the smallest unit of morality. This possibility closes to life's possibility. Because the extreme cynicism and nihilism are denied right here and the humanism blossom at this point. However the humanism of the Son, Chang-sub is unstable because it always faces to anxiety of the negation which away from accidental existence. The matter of coincidence and contingency which couldn't reflect to anthropocentrism or humanism is eventually unavoidable for the materialism as a logical conclusion. The humanism of Son, Chang-sub is the trivial episode within ontological limitation from the wide point of view. However it is obvious that the self-consciousness so called the origination of being endows the Son, Chang-sub's novel with the existential depth. The contingence does not intervene in any other causes, purpose, necessity or providence. Its concepts are ontological and metaphysical which are based on the existential coincidence. A novel of Son, Chang-sub's which has existential peculiarity could be understandable through the concept of this 'contingence' than any other concepts, and that is the conclusion of this study. The novels, which have a naturally metaphysical question, tend to have somewhat anti-moral aspect because the metaphysical question cannot be handled within the boundary of human ethic only. And also Son, Chang-sub's self-torture and self-disclosure wouldn't be restricted under the narrow meaning of moral law. Moreover if it is interpreted with existentialism which has influenced to Son, Chang-sub, the behavior of charter in his novel would rather prove the evidence of humanism. The humanism of Son, Chang-sub's generally extends the possibility of human relationship over the sympathy, the smallest unit of morality. This possibility closes to life's possibility. Because the extreme cynicism and nihilism are denied right here and the humanism blossom at this point. However the humanism of the Son, Chang-sub is unstable because it always faces to anxiety of the negation which away from accidental existence. The matter of coincidence and contingency which couldn't reflect to anthropocentrism or humanism is eventually unavoidable for the materialism as a logical conclusion. The humanism of Son, Chang-sub is the trivial episode within ontological limitation from the wide point of view. However it is obvious that the self-consciousness so called the origination of being endows the Son, Chang-sub's novel with the existential depth.

포스트휴먼 시대의 의료 휴머니즘: 과거, 현재, 미래에 대한 비판적 고찰

황임경 대한의사학회 2023 醫史學 Vol.32 No.1

This paper explores the historical and contemporary significance of medical humanism and its potential value in medical education. Medical humanities emerged as a response to the issues arising from science-driven modern medicine, most notably the marginalization of the individual in medical practice. Medical humanism has evolved to become a guiding ideology in shaping the theory and practice of medical humanities. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought about significant changes in medical humanities, challenging the foundations of humanism beyond medical humanism. The rise of posthumanism raises fundamental questions about humanism itself. The climate crisis, driven by human greed and capitalism’s exploitation of nature, has led to the emergence of viruses that transcend species boundaries. The overflow of severely ill patients has highlighted the classic medical ethics problem of “who should be saved first” in Korea, and medical humanism is facing a crisis. Various marginalized groups have also pointed out the biases inherent in medical humanism. With this rapidly changing environment in mind, this paper examines the past and present of medical humanism in order to identify the underlying ideology of medical humanism and its future potential in medical education. This paper assumes that there are two axes of humanism: human-centeredness and anthropocentrism. Medical humanism has historically developed along the axis of human-centeredness rather than anthropocentrism, emphasizing the academic inquiry into human nature and conditions, as well as the moral element of humanity. Furthermore, this paper discusses the challenges that medical humanism faces from post-human centeredness and post-anthropocentrism, as well as the recent discourse on posthumanism. Finally, the implications of this shift in medical humanism for the education of the history of medicine are briefly explored.

우리의 人文精神과 21世紀

尹在根 한양대학교 한국학연구소 2006 韓國學論集 Vol.40 No.-

人文精神의 입장에서 본다면 20세기 우리는 서양의 것을 철저하게 借用했다. 이는 곧 20세기 우리의 人文學이 〈제정신 없이〉 遂行됐음을 말해주는 것이고 20세기 우리 人文學은 서양의 〈The Humanities〉를 흉내짓 하고 말았다는 서글픈 事實을 마주하게 된다. 朝鮮朝의 人文精神을 돌이켜 보자. 만약에 崔萬理 類型만 있고 〈世宗大王〉을 필두로 하여 〈西溪-西浦-茶山〉 등등의 〈實學精神〉이 없었더라면 오늘날 韓國人文學의 人文精神이 기댈 수 있는 〈舊貫의 언덕〉을 찾을 길이 없을 터이다. 韓國人文學의 人文精神을 破綻시킨 직접적인 部類는 日帝 强点期의 親日派와 毆美派를 묶어서 整理하게 된다. 솔직하게 말해 20세기 後半에 韓國人文學에 從事했던 學者치고 〈나는 毆美派가 아니다〉고 豪言할 當事者는 全無하다 할 만큼 韓國人文學의 人文精神은 〈誠忘의 重病〉을 앓고 있는 중임을 지적하지 않을 수 없다. 만일 韓國人文學을 짊어진 21세기 3세대 學者들이 1-2세대의 過誤를 峻嚴하게 비판하지 않는다면 上古로부터 19세기까지 5천년에 걸쳐 일구어온 韓民族의 〈舊貫〉과 韓國人文學을 接脈시키지 않으면 안 된다는 人文精神의 正道를 깨우쳐 터득하지 못할 것이다. 다시 한 번 西溪가 밝혀놓은 學問의 正道를 들춘 다음 反問으로써 결론을 삼고자 한다: 〈行遠必自邇 (반드시(必) 가까운 곳(邇)에서부터(自) 먼 곳을(遠) 간다(行).)〉. 이는 〈먼 곳을 가려면 반드시 가까운 곳에서 출발하라〉 함이다. 韓國人文學의 〈舊貫〉이 밟을 곳이 어디가 가까운 데인가? 〈朝鮮朝〉가 아니면 서양인가? 西洋은 멀고 朝鮮朝는 가깝다는 것은 어린애도 다 하는 사실이다. 이 사실을 정성껏 銘心하고 人文學을 탐구하면 韓國人文學의 人文精神은 正道를 밟는 것이다. In our view of the humanism in the 20th century, we completely borrowed the western way of thinking. It just means that our Humanism of 20C has achieved unconsciously, and we should remind ourselves a sad fact that we imitated the concept of the western Humanities. Let us reflect upon the humanism of the Chosun Dynasty period. We can never find the beauty of conventionalities of Korean humanism, if we are only concerned about Choi Man-Ri's linguistic patterns and do not care about the Shilhak Mind of King Sejong, Seogye Park Se-Dang, Seopo Kim Man-Jung, Dasan Jeong Yak-Yong, etc. We usually separate the immediate group which overthrew the Korean Humanism; the pro-Japanese party and Eur-American party under the rule of Japanese imperialism of the late 20th century. Frankly, there might be no Korean humanism scholar in that period who can boast that he 'is not a member of Eur-American party'. That is the reason why we point out that the humanity of the Korean Humanism is suffering from a severe illness. If the third generation scholars of 21th century who are charged with the Korean Humanism do not criticize the mistakes of the first and the second generations strictly, it will be impossible for us to realize the path of righteousness of the humanities which teaches the necessity of the connection of the conventionalities and the Korean Humanism. Those are the results of the Korean people which they cultivated for 5 thousand years from the ancient times to the 19th century. Now, I am trying to conclude this article by making a retort about 'the right path' of knowledge which Seogye defined; "行遠必自邇" which means 'If one should go far, he/she must take his/her departure from a nearer place.' Where can be the nearer place for the conventionalities of the Korean Humanism to step on? Will it be the Chosun Dynasty or the West? It is a definite fact that the West is far, and the Chosun Dynasty is near. If we bear this fact in mind and research on the Humanism elaborately, the humanities of the Korean Humanism will tread the path of virtue.

Moving Targets : Towards a Post-Humanist Historical Ontology of Man?

Jens DE VLEMINCK 이화여자대학교 이화인문과학원 2016 탈경계인문학 Vol.9 No.3

April 2016 was the fiftieth anniversary of the release of Michel Foucault’s monumental study Les Mots et les Choses (1966), translated four years later as The Order of Things (1970). This contribution wants to revisit the enigmatic last part of Foucault’s book in the light of the past half century of philosophical thinking, more particularly with regard to the post-humanist condition. Although Foucault’s thesis of the “end of man” is an obligatory reference in studies on post-humanism, the specific presuppositions and implications of Foucault’s so-called anti-humanism generally remained unexplored. In this contribution, Foucault’s The Order of Things is re-evaluated, considering its potential for the project of “critical post-humanism.” In this context, the following questions are taken into account: What humanism is targeted by Foucault’s critique? What are the specific aspirations of Foucault’s so-called “anti-humanism”? And, what is the latter’s critical potential for the development of a post-humanist philosophical anthropology understanding post-humanism as a continuation-through-transformation of humanism? Further expanding on the fore-mentioned questions, this contribution reconsiders Ian Hacking’s Historical Ontology (2002) as a further elaboration of the Foucauldian enterprise. In line with both Foucault and Hacking, the conditions of a posthumanist “historical ontology” of man are questioned in order to consider a philosophical anthropology for the 21st century.

The Relationship between Civic Humanism and Calvin’s View of the State

KIM Changdae(김창대) 장로회신학대학교 기독교사상과 문화연구원 2017 장신논단 Vol.49 No.3

본 논문은 종교개혁 당시의 칼뱅의 국가관이 이탈리아 플로렌스의 시민 인문주의에 영향을 받았다는 것을 논증하는 데에 그 목적이 있다. 이를 위해 플로렌스의 인문주의 특징을 살피고, 국가관과 정치관과 관련해서 플로렌스 인문주의자들이 어떤 생각을 가졌는지를 살펴보았다. 이 과정에서 플로렌스 인문주의에 대한 다양한 학자들의 평가를 검토하였다. 여기서 플로렌스의 인문주의의 주요 특징은 고전 지식을 적극적인 정치참여와 통합하려고 했다는 점을 발견할 수 있다. 또한 칼뱅이 활동했던 알프스 북부에서 에라스무스로 대변되는 인문주의 특징도 정치개혁과 무관하지 않음을 고찰했다. 칼뱅은 당시 프랑스 인문주의자들을 통해서 고전 지식을 알게 되었고, 프랑스 인문주의자들은 플로렌스의 인문주의에 매우 큰 흥미를 갖고 있는 자들이었음을 알 수 있었다. 더욱이 칼뱅은 플로렌스의 시민 인문주의를 모델로 해서, 국가 개혁을 시도했던 마틴 부처에 크게 영향을 받았다. 바로 이런 이유들로 해서, 칼뱅은 제네바 개혁에서 국가와 교회를 분리시켰다. 칼뱅은 국가와 교회는 하나님 나라를 위해 동일하게 공헌하는 독립된 기능을 하는 실체로 보았다. 이상의 관찰들은 칼뱅의 국가관이 플로렌스 인민주의에 영향을 받았다는 증거로 이해할 수 있다. 그래서 칼뱅은 도시 전체가 교회라고 주장했던 츠빙글리와는 달랐다고 말할 수 있다. 결국 국가가 하나님 나라를 위해 독특한 역할을 수행한다고 생각한 칼뱅의 국가관은 그의 인문주의 배경과 마틴 부처의 영향을 통해서, 그가 접촉하게 된 플로렌스의 시민 인문주의에 어느 정도 빚을 진다고 주장할 수 있다. 이런 발견은 오늘날 기독교가 국가에 대한 더 많은 고민을 해야 한다는 교훈을 준다. This work has attempted to explore an relationship between Calvin’s view of the state and Florentine civic humanism. For this, attention has been devoted to how Calvin was in contact with civic humanism in Florence in reference to the view of the state. Also, this work has dealt with the characteristics of Florentine civic humanism in order to find any political hints that indicate some influences on Calvin’s view of the state. Basically, the prominent feature of Florentine civic humanism is found in its efforts to integrate the classical learning with active participation in politics. In the process of the argumentation, it has been revealed that Calvin was acquainted with classical learning especially through French humanist who had interest in Florentine humanism. Also, he was greatly influenced by Bucer who sought a reform for the state on the model of Florentine civic humanism. This finding can be regarded as circumstantial evidence that Calvin’s view of the state was in some degree influenced by Florentine civic humanism, with the result of understanding the church and the state as being separate entities contributing to the kingdom of God. In this respect, Calvin, together with Bucer, was different from Zwingli who argued that the Christian city was nothing other than the Christian church. The explanation for Calvin’s positive evaluation of the unique role of the state can be found in his contact with civic humanism through both his humanistic background and Bucer’ influence as previously suggested.

포스트휴머니즘은 휴머니즘이 될 수 있는가?

이원봉(Lee, Won Bong) 가톨릭대학교(성심교정) 인간학연구소 2018 인간연구 Vol.0 No.37

오늘날 포스트휴머니즘이라는 말은 더 이상 낯설지 않다. 대중들은 드라마, 영화, 과학소설 등의 대중매체를 통해 ‘포스트휴먼’에 익숙해졌으며, 과학자와 인문학자는 포스트휴먼의 기술적 가능성과 윤리적 의미를 진지하게 토론하고 있다. 하지만 포스트휴머니즘이 무엇을 의미하는지, 그리고 특히 ‘휴머니즘’과 어떤 관계가 있는지는 아직도 명확하지 않다. 따라서 포스트휴머니즘이 단순히 오락을 위한 상상의 산물이 아니라, 진지한 학술적 논의의 대상이 되기 위해서는 먼저 포스트휴머니즘의 의미를 밝혀야 한다. 그리고 포스트휴머니즘의 의미를 밝히는 일은 동시에, 우리에게 익숙한 휴머니즘의 의미와 한계를 명확하게 하는 일이 될 것이다. 포스트휴머니즘은 인간에 있어서 육체와 정신의 관계에 대한 입장에 따라 세 가지로 나눌 수 있다. 인간능력향상 기술을 통해 육체와 정신의 기능을 극대화하려고 하는 트랜스휴머니즘, 이런 과정에서 인간 육체의 폐기를 주장하고 정신과 기계의 결합을 주장하는 ‘대중적’ 포스트휴머니즘, 이성적 주체의 완성을 추구하는 전통적 휴머니즘을 비판하면서 인간능력향상 기술을 통한 다양한 인간 주체의 등장을 옹호하는 ‘비판적’ 포스트휴머니즘 등이다. 이들 다양한 형태의 포스트휴머니즘은 모두 스스로를 진정한 ‘휴머니즘’이라고 주장한다. 그렇다면 이들은 모두가 휴머니즘이 될 수 있을 것인가? 아니라면 휴머니즘이 휴머니즘일 수 있는 기준은 무엇인가? 인간성을 오직 정신기능에만 두고 육체를 극복해야 할 장애물로 여기는 ‘대중적’ 포스트휴머니즘과, 거꾸로 인간 주체의 육체적 기원에만 주목하는 ‘비판적’ 포스트휴머니즘은 적어도 전통적 ‘휴머니즘’을 완성했다거나 계승한다고 할 수 없다. 전통적 휴머니즘은 자기 완성하는 이성적 존재로서의 인격 개념에 기초하고 있는데, 이것은 육체를 통해 개별적 정체성을 지니게 되는 의식적 존재를 전제하기 때문이다. 그리고 이런 개별적 의식 존재라야만 휴머니즘의 토대인 윤리적 실천과 책임이 가능해진다. 이런 점에서 ‘대중적’ 포스트휴머니즘이나 ‘비판적’ 포스트휴머니즘에서는 개별적 정체성을 가진 실천적 주체가 불가능하기 때문에 진정한 의미의 휴머니즘이 될 수 없다. Today, the word post-humanism is no stranger to us. The public has become accustomed to the ‘Post Human’ through mass media such as drama, film, and science fiction. Scientists and humanities scientists are seriously discussing the technical possibilities and ethical implications of Post Human. However, it is still unclear what post-humanism means and especially how it relates to “humanism.” Therefore, post-humanism must be understood not only as a product of imagination for entertainment but as a subject of serious academic discussion. And to clarify the meaning of post-humanism, at the same time, it will clarify the meaning and limit of humanism which is familiar to us. Post-humanism can be divided into three categories according to the position of the relationship between body and mind in human beings. The trans-humanism, which seeks to maximize the functions of the body and mind through ‘human-enhancement’ technologies, the ‘popular’ post-humanism which insists on the abolition of the human body in this process and asserts the uploading of mind in computer system. And ‘critical’ post-humanism, which advocates the emergence of various human subjects through human-enhancement technologies. These various forms of post-humanism all claim to be true “humanism.” Then can they all be humanism? If not, what are the criteria for humanism to be humanism? ‘Popular’post-humanism, which considers humanity only as a mental function and an obstacle to overcome the body, and ‘critical’ post-humanism, which focuses only on the physical origins of the human subject inversely, can at least conclude or inherit traditional humanism none. Traditional humanism is based on the concept of personality as a self-completing rational being because it presupposes a conscious being that has individual identity through the body. And this individual consciousness only enables ethical practice and responsibility that is the foundation of humanism. In this sense, “popular” post-humanism or “critical” post-humanism can not be truly humanistic because it is impossible to have a practical subject with individual identity.

포스트휴머니즘과 인식적 변화의 필요성 고찰: <엑스 마키나>

강준수(Junsoo Kang) 한국동서비교문학학회 2020 동서 비교문학저널 Vol.0 No.51

The purpose of this study is to discuss the need to change the perception and perspective of post-human society. To achieve this goal, this study attempts to conduct a discussion of Trans-Humanism and Post-Humanism and the analysis of the film Ex Machina (2015). Basically, Trans-Humanism is a technology based on advanced science that seeks to improve intelligence, body, and psychology through the elimination of human aging and the modification of physical capacity. In other words, Trans-Humanism is a new evolution of modern humans. In the end, Trans-Humanism adheres to Technophilia’s position that the power of science and technology can overcome the limitations of human life. From the perspective of Trans-Humanism, human nature is cliché and is abolished. And trans-humans with improved bodies to overcome biological limitations can no longer be humans. However, it can be recognized as a human from the point of view of post-human. Post-Humanism differs in that it means a review of existing humanism. Basically, Post-Humanism began with the essential question of humanism. Thus, Post-Humanism breaks the binary oppositional paradigm of humans, machines or technology. Post-Humanism does not separate humans and machines, but approaches the concept of mixing and compounding. The error of modern people with regard to the future prospect of post-human society is that people try to predict and judge the future society from the perspective of humanism. Human beings living in the present have expectations and fears about the future. However, this view is only seen from the present point of view, and in the post-human society of the future, man is not a human concept with a traditional nature. Already in the post-human society, today’s human beings are advanced humans who are combined with machines and evolved in their intelligence, body, and emotions. In other words, the expectations and fears that can arise in a post-human society are merely an extension of the traditional humanism that puts humans as subjects and recognizes other post-human subjects as others. In conclusion, post-human society is the coexistence of mechanical human beings born of newly evolved biological humans and technology, and it is necessary to realize that the machines that human beings see today no longer exist.