Daryl J. Wennemann

A central task in understanding the theme of the posthuman involves relating it to the concept of the human. For some; there is continuity between the concepts of the human and the posthuman. This approach can be understood in the tradition of the great chain of being. Another approach posits a conceptual; and perhaps ontological; saltus. Here; the concept of the posthuman is taken to represent a radical departure from the realm of the human. After considering Lovejoy’s scheme of the great chain of being; Aristotle’s view of a conceptual saltus ; and their historical significance; I will suggest how we might distinguish various concepts of the posthuman from the human by applying Rudolf Carnap’s approach to defining multiple concepts of space. We can thus create a linguistic convention that will assist in constructing useful conceptions of the human and posthuman – these can clarify the prospects of a posthuman future.

Amitai Etzioni’s From Empire to Community traces the fundamental socio-political problem of our time to that of maintaining human primacy. He argues that the tendency of our technological means is to overtake our ability to assign worthy goals for their application. His analysis of the possibility of forming a cosmopolitan order can be applied fruitfully in a posthuman context in which emerging technologies pose a challenge for constructing a posthuman political and moral order. In this context; the task is to maintain posthuman primacy. I show that there are several converging lines of thought and supportive social factors that underwrite the construction of a posthuman cosmopolitan order. I argue that self-consistent recursivity must be applied to the very procedural character of reflexive modernization of institutions and to the creation of posthuman beings that may participate in the creation of a future cosmopolitan social order.

This work is a study of Jacques Ellul's analysis of the problem of freedom in a technological society. It is my argument that Ellul's views on the significance of human freedom in a technological society have not been adequately understood because the dialectical character of his thought has not been appreciated. ;The first chapter of the work shows that the problem of freedom in a technological society is the central theme of Ellul's thought. Ellul has thus developed a conception of knowledge that is open to freedom. Middle range theory provides for a level of generality that lies mid-way between a metaphysical conception of the human condition and a mere factual description that Ellul designates as fact-worship realism. ;The second chapter is a biographical study of the origins of Ellul's views on modern technique and the significance of human freedom in a technological society. ;Chapter three provides a description of Ellul's dialectic and its significance for his analysis of the technological society and the meaning of freedom in a technological society. Ellul's dialectic is existential, one that is directed toward making a fundamental decision in the face of technological necessity. ;Chapter four considers the relation of technological development to the development of human freedom. Ellul argues that technological development has historically been an expression of human freedom with respect to the natural environment. When technological development reached the stage at which technical means formed a system, what Ellul calls 'technique', it became a source of determination. The meaning of human freedom has changed so that now human freedom must be expressed as an opposition to technique. ;The fifth and final chapter examines Ellul's critique of the theory of planned freedom developed by Karl Mannheim. Ellul rejects Mannheim's theory as an example of a political illusion. It provides an illusory freedom in the face of technological necessity. While there is, in Ellul's view, no apparent resolution to the general problem of freedom in a technological society, it remains for individuals to create an individual lifestyle that is expressive of their freedom