Reprogramming destiny : Kant’s ‘What is enlightenment?’, evolution, and posthumanism

Abstract

This article explores the idea of a genealogy of posthumanism while stressing the gene in genealogy. Starting with an analysis of Immanuel Kant’s essay on the Enlightenment, among other short works of his, this study examines speculation on the improvement of the human race, and consequently the possible shared concerns of Kantian thought and posthumanism. Because the issues in question hover between conceptualities of “destiny”, “progress”, and “man”, this paper examines the past (and future) progress of humanity in terms of evolution and the techno-biological processes of sexual reproduction and gene expression (specifically, genetic reprogramming). In doing so, the present argument aims to better elucidate Kant’s writings and, ultimately, determine if or how Kant may be read as prefiguring the posthumanist ethos.