Francesca Ferrando

This book offers a comprehensive reflection on the existential condition of the 21st century. A visionary introduction to existential posthumanism, it takes the form of eight meditations. This posthuman journey of self-inquiry engages with a wide range of knowledge and wisdom: from the Paleolithic times to the futures of radical life extension, from multi-species evolutions to the rights of Nature, the Anthropocene and the rise of Artificial Intelligence. The book declutters the habit of being human. Letting go of the need for anthropocentric mastery and species-specific ambitions, the reader emerges regenerated. The manifold paths of posthuman self-realization reveal that we are all co-creators in the existential unfolding: our lives are our ultimate works of art. The Art of Being Posthuman is a self-help guide to navigate our brave new world. -- Back cover.

In the context of Posthuman Studies, attention towards education is gaining increasing significance to address the anthropocentric axioms embedded in contemporary worldviews. What is posthumanist education? This paper addresses this question affirming the importance of embodying posthumanist theory in practice. Attention will be dedicated to three original keywords: selves-care; flex(st)ability; commUnity. They will be investigated as possible posthumanist focuses to respond to current educational needs. This paper is not purely theoretical; it is anchored in material experiences that are being explored by posthuman communities worldwide. We will reflect, more specifically, on the Posthuman Summer Camp, a collaborative event organized by the Italian Posthuman Network (Italy, August 10–13 2023). In this essay, the realities and possibilities that emerged during the first edition of the Camp are embraced as embodied and embedded, experiential and experimental – clearly, existential – praxes, enlightening our vision quest on posthumanist education.

“Posthumano” se ha convertido en un término paraguas para referirse a una variedad de movimientos y escuelas de pensamiento diferentes, incluyendo el posthumanismo filosófico, cultural y crítico; el transhumanismo (en sus variantes de extropianismo, transhumanismo liberal y democrático, entre otras); el enfoque feminista de los nuevos materialismos; el paisaje heterogéneo del antihumanismo, metahumanismo, metahumanidades y posthumanidades. Este uso genérico y global del término ha creado confusión metodológica y teórica entre expertos y no expertos. Este ensayo explorará las diferencias entre estos movimientos, centrándose en particular en las áreas de significación que comparten el posthumanismo y el transhumanismo. Al presentar estas dos filosofías independientes, aunque relacionadas, el posthumanismo puede resultar un punto de vista más completo para reflexionar sobre posibles futuros.

This special issue of ‘Sophia’ aims to reflect upon future evolutions of religions and their related narratives and imaginaries from a critical and generative understanding of our ancient sources. Bodies are locations of creative power and symbolic proliferation. Cyborgian, transhuman, and posthuman embodiments are going to generate visions of the divine in tune with such an epistemic shift, by addressing questions such as: can God be represented as a cyborg? Could robots and avatars be prophets? Is internet a suitable setting for a posthuman theophany? This special issue articulates within the frame of a relational ontological perspective, according to which the notion of the divine evolves, as much as human and non-human persons do. In this evolutionary scenario, the representation of the divine realm may shift from era to era, adapting to new natural-cultural formations. This special issue argues that the posthuman paradigm shift will be followed by a symbolic turn in religious imaginaries as well.