Iunusov D.V. Criticism of Posthumanism, Transhumanism, and Justification for Recognizing Technologically Modified Humans
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/lp.jvolsu.2026.2.7
Daniil V. Iunusov
Postgraduate Student, Department of Philosophy and Cultural Studies, Ufa University of Science and Technology
Zaki Validi St, 32, 450076 Ufa, Russian Federation
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https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4264-7991
Abstract. The article analyzes posthumanism and transhumanism as competing philosophical discourses that construct the techno-modified subject in different ways within contemporary technoculture. The accelerated development of NBIC technologies, artificial intelligence systems, and bioengineering shifts the technological modification of human beings into the realm of acute socio-political problems. Practices of genetic editing and cyborgization highlight issues concerning the boundaries of the human, the redistribution of resources, and new configurations of power and inequality. The author shows that the posthumanist perspective provides a critical vocabulary for deconstructing the boundaries between the human and the non-human, as well as for detailing distributed and hybrid subjectivity. However, the radical deconstruction of the autonomous subject complicates the development of positive normative criteria: it becomes unclear how to allocate responsibility, justice, and dignity within complex networks of relations. Transhumanism, in turn, articulates the values of autonomy and the right to technological self-improvement aimed at overcoming biological limitations, enhancing cognitive abilities, and radically extending lifespan. Nevertheless, this project does not sufficiently take into account the socio-political consequences of techno-differences. The dominant techno-commercial versions of transhumanism have an individualistic orientation and ignore risks such as unequal access to technologies, the exclusion of “unenhanced” individuals, and status conflicts. As an alternative framework, the article draws on the tradition of Russian cosmism, where overcoming human limitations is conceived not as an individual privilege, but as a collective “common cause” based on solidarity and equal access. The author concludes that it is necessary to supplement these discourses with theories of recognition and the analysis of practices of inclusion and exclusion. The integration of the category of recognition will allow moving from the critique of future scenarios to the development of a comprehensive normative model of technoculture, where overcoming limitations is combined with preserving the dignity and mutual respect of the participants in social interaction.
Key words: posthumanism, transhumanism, technoculture, recognition, normative model of technoculture, technological modification of the human being.
Citation. Iunusov D.V. Criticism of Posthumanism, Transhumanism, and Justification for Recognizing Technologically Modified Humans. Logos et Praxis, 2026, vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 66-73. (in Russian). DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/lp.jvolsu.2026.2.7
Criticism of Posthumanism, Transhumanism, and Justification for Recognizing Technologically Modified Humans © 2026 by Iunusov D.V. is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
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