Post- and transhumanism is an urgent issue that demands reflection, as the coming biotech revolution inevi-tably will change human life. The essay trilogy offers a vivid and comprehensible insight into the topic through the different angles of literature, art, film, philosophy, religion and science, enlightening newcomers as well as those already fa-miliar with the discourse. The intention is an impartial presentation that captures the complexity of post- and transhumanism - spurring the reader to his or her own reflections on humanity version 2.0. The matter is not a sci-fi scenario, and critics argue that we already live in a Post- and Transhumanistic age. A conviction Poetic Parloir endorses, and for certain the view that it will have a major impact, chang-ing our understanding of humankind and how to live a human life. It calls for moral attention, as the new biotechniques evolve at a far higher pace than ethics can keep up with. Part III inquires into the expected furcation of mankind into different versions or subspecies, according to the extent of modification and enhancement. The focus of interest is »ethos«, that is, the attitude and ten-dency of the improved, superior humans towards those less enhanced and the original, unmodified ones. Will the biotech engendered superhumans feel themselves so lofty and apart that they will seize power and take control of the society, demand special rights and establish themselves as a nouveau aristocracy - as kings. In a future stratification of distinct lower and higher castes, reviving ancient and feudal forms of society. This might be the scenario of the pending biotech era. A utopia or a dystopia? Dear reader, I hereby give you Poetic Parloir part III on post- and transhumanism. Yours to read, roam and revel in.

Preface - Essay trilogy (part I) on post- and transhumanism, each part focusing separate issues. Post- and transhumanism are to most people new areas of interest and therefore, when they encounter these discourses, they have only a slight understanding of the problematics in question and the serious conse-quences the new bio-tech era inevitably will entail. The intention of the present trilogy on post- and transhumanism is thus: to give an introductory account of the matters and questions in play in a comprehensible way, so that the trilogy will be informative and enlightening, both to newcomers and those already familiar with the topic. At a first glance, post- and transhumanism undeniably have a futuristic aura; hence, if one were to speak of such an era, it would be one belonging to the future or merely a sci-fi scenario. Nonetheless, this is not the case, and several critics in the field argue that we, in fact, already live in a post- and transhumanistic age. A conviction Poetic Parloir endorses or, at least, the view that the biotech revolution is unstoppable, urgent and pending. And certainly, the view that it will have a great impact on humankind and human existence, changing our understanding of what it means to be a human and to live a human life; a decisive influence that demands our moral attention, as the new bio-techniques evolve at a far higher pace than moral and ethics can keep up with. Poetic Parloir is unique in how it introduces the pending era, as it often bases itself on popular as well as acknowledged literature, art and film, together with perspectives of philosophy, religion and science. Spheres, of which the reader may have a good foreknowledge and understanding. This will facilitate the comprehension of the sometimes complex post- and transhumanistic issues. Certainly, new times are pending, some say the promised land, the Millennial Kingdom from the Book of Revelation. I say, it is a rabbit hole, and we are invited, whether we like or not, with Alice, either into the wonderland of utopia or the gloomy wasteland of dystopia. It needs our attention. Dear reader, I hereby give you Poetic Parloir [part I] on the topic of post- and transhumanism. Yours to read, yours to roam - yours to revel in.

The subject of post- and transhumanism is a pending area of interest that demands reflection, as the coming biotech era inevitably will change human life. The essay trilogy offers a vivid and comprehensible insight into the discourse through the different cultural angles of literature, art, film, philosophy, religion and science, enlightening newcomers as well as those already familiar with the topic. Poetic Parloir is dedicated to - and thus suitable for - the reader who wants to be well versed in the pivotal questions of contemporary life. The taken view is philosophical; the context is literature, art, film, philosophy, religion and science; and the intention is the impartial presentation that captures the complexity of post- and transhumanism. At a first glance, post- and transhumanism has a futuristic aura, hence, if one were to speak of such an era it would be a future one or merely a fictive sci-fi scenario. However, this is not the case and critics argue that we already live in a post- and transhumanistic age. A conviction Poetic Parloir endorses, or at least the view that the biotech revolution will prevail, and certainly the view that it will have a great impact on human existence and mankind, changing our understanding of what it means to be a human and to live a human life. The situation calls for moral attention, as the new biotechniques evolve at a far higher pace than ethics can keep up with. New times are descending, some say the promised land, the Millennial Kingdom from the Book of Revelation. I say, it is a rabbit hole and we are invited whether we like or not, with Alice, either into the wonderland of utopia or the gloomy wasteland of dystopia. Dear reader, I hereby give you Poetic Parloir [part II] on the topic of post- and transhumanism. Yours to read, yours to roam - yours to revel in.

This book gathers diverse critical treatments from fifteen scholars of the posthuman and posthumanism together in a single volume.

What does thinking mean in the age of Artificial Intelligence? How is big-scale computation transforming the way our brains function? This collection discusses these pressing questions by looking beyond instrumental rationality. Exploring recent developments as well as examples from the history of cybernetics, the book uncovers the positive role played by errors and traumas in the construction of our contemporary technological minds. With texts by Benjamin Bratton, Orit Halpern, Adrian Lahoud, Jon Lindblom, Catherine Malabou, Reza Negarestani, Luciana Parisi, Matteo Pasquinelli, Ana Teixeira Pinto, Michael Wheeler, Charles Wolfe, and Ben Woodard.

Over 25 years ago, Raymond Williams’ Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society set the standard for how we understand and use the language of culture and society. Now, three luminaries in the field of cultural studies have assembled a volume that builds on and updates Williams’ classic, reflecting the transformation in culture and society since its publication. New Keywords: A Revised Vocabulary of Culture and Society is a state-of-the-art reference for students, teachers and culture vultures everywhere. Assembles a stellar team of internationally renowned and interdisciplinary social thinkers and theorists Showcases 142 signed entries – from art, commodity, and fundamentalism to youth, utopia, the virtual, and the West – that capture the practices, institutions, and debates of contemporary society Builds on and updates Raymond Williams’s classic Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society, by reflecting the transformation in culture and society over the last 25 years Includes a bibliographic resource to guide research and cross-referencing The book is supported by a website: www.blackwellpublishing.com/newkeywords.

From Ducks, Newburyport to zombie movies and the Fast and Furious franchise, how climate anxiety permeates our culture The art and literature of our time is pregnant with catastrophe, with weather and water, wildness and weirdness. The Anthropocene - the term given to this geological epoch in which humans, anthropos, are wreaking havoc on the earth - is to be found bubbling away everywhere in contemporary cultural production. Typically, discussions of how culture registers, figures and mediates climate change focus on 'climate fiction' or 'cli-fi', but The Anthropocene Unconscious is more interested in how the Anthropocene and especially anthropogenic climate destabilisation manifests in texts that are not overtly about climate change - that is, unconsciously. The Anthropocene, Mark Bould argues, constitutes the unconscious of 'the art and literature of our time'. Tracing the outlines of the Anthropocene unconscious in a range of film, television and literature - across a range of genres and with utter disregard for high-low culture distinctions - this playful and riveting book draws out some of the things that are repressed and obscured by the term 'the Anthropocene', including capital, class, imperialism, inequality, alienation, violence, commodification, patriarchy and racial formations. The Anthropocene Unconscious is about a kind of rewriting. It asks: what happens when we stop assuming that the text is not about the anthropogenic biosphere crises engulfing us? What if all the stories we tell are stories about the Anthropocene? About climate change?

Gunther Anders' Philosophy of Technology is the first comprehensive exploration of the ground-breaking work of German thinker Gunther Anders. Anders' philosophy has become increasingly prescient in our digitised, technological age as his work predicts the prevalence of social media, ubiquitous surveillance and the turn to big data. Anders' ouevre also explored the technologies of nuclear power and the biotech concerns for the human and transhuman condition which have become so central to current theory. Babette Babich argues that Anders offers important resources on streaming digital media through his writings on radio, television and film and is, unusually, both a comprehensive and profound thinker. Anders' relationship with key philosophers like Hannah Arendt and Walter Benjamin and his thinking on Goethe, Nietzsche and Rilke is also explored with a focus on the deep impact he made on his peers. It reflects specifically on the intersection of Anders' thought Heidegger and the Frankfurt school and how influential a figure he was on the landscape of 20th century philosophy. A compelling rehabilitation of a thinker with profound contemporary relevance.

How to use design as a tool to create not only things but ideas, to speculate about possible futures. Today designers often focus on making technology easy to use, sexy, and consumable. In Speculative Everything, Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby propose a kind of design that is used as a tool to create not only things but ideas. For them, design is a means of speculating about how things could be—to imagine possible futures. This is not the usual sort of predicting or forecasting, spotting trends and extrapolating; these kinds of predictions have been proven wrong, again and again. Instead, Dunne and Raby pose “what if” questions that are intended to open debate and discussion about the kind of future people want (and do not want). Speculative Everything offers a tour through an emerging cultural landscape of design ideas, ideals, and approaches. Dunne and Raby cite examples from their own design and teaching and from other projects from fine art, design, architecture, cinema, and photography. They also draw on futurology, political theory, the philosophy of technology, and literary fiction. They show us, for example, ideas for a solar kitchen restaurant; a flypaper robotic clock; a menstruation machine; a cloud-seeding truck; a phantom-limb sensation recorder; and devices for food foraging that use the tools of synthetic biology. Dunne and Raby contend that if we speculate more—about everything—reality will become more malleable. The ideas freed by speculative design increase the odds of achieving desirable futures.

What does popular culture's relationship with cyborgs, robots, vampires and zombies tell us about being human? Insightful scholarly perspectives shine a light on how film and television evince and portray the philosophical roots, the social ramifications and the future visions of a posthumanist world.