Human and posthuman: qualities, boundaries, and relationships from the perspective of technological posthumanism

This article explores the problem of defining and distinguishing between the concepts of human and posthuman, analyzes the attributes and aspects ascribed to them from the perspective of technological posthumanism. The author connects the relevance of this study with the active development of NBIC technologies, with the expectation that humanity will soon reach the point of technological singularity, and with the implications of the theory of integrated information developed by J. Tononi. The study refers to the integrated information theory, which develops the concept of the completeness of phenomenal experience and ways of its empirical fixation both in humans and in other entities, as well as to the theories of R. Kurzweil and R. Braidotti. As a result of research conducted, the paper provides the following definitions of human and posthuman subjects based on the functional approach to the definition of a human being by R. Kurzweil: a human subject is a biological or non-biological entity of natural or artificial origin, possessing consciousness or the potential for its actualization, and capable of performing the function of a subject associated with civilization; a posthuman subject is a man-made, active, intellectual agent that is benevolent to life, possesses the form of reflection of reality that is superior to consciousness, and has motives for activity that lie in the material world. The author suggests that the criterion for the diversification of such subjects is the parameter of the completeness of phenomenal experience. The existence of human subjects is associated with a certain degree of manifestation of internal and external causality, as well as with various risks for the existence of life in general; the existence of posthuman subjects is associated with the overcoming of such limitations and of existential risks for life in the universe. The results obtained are proposed for use in social philosophy and social theory.