Transhumanism is a scientific and philosophical movement that proposes to overcome, through new technologies, the restrictions imposed on us by our biological condition. Some transhumanists assume that the struggle against natural limits could lead to a radical change in our body or even to its replacement. Other authors, such as Nicholas Agar, propose a moderate enhancement that does not exceed the framework of what we understand to be human. In this article, I will offer a plausible interpretation of the project (...) of human enhancement from a Thomistic perspective. To carry out my analysis, I will focus on three fundamental metaphysical and anthropological questions: How do advocates of radical enhancement understand the relationship between limits, imperfections and evils in human nature? How is this relationship understood from moderate positions? And Is any of these proposals compatible with Aquinas’ anthropology? I will conclude that the identification of limits with imperfections and evils assumed by radical positions is incompatible with Aquinas’ anthropology. Nevertheless, this does not entail that any bio-modification is unacceptable. Aquinas’ peculiar metaphysics, together with its anthropology in which the natural, the supernatural and the preternatural realms intertwine, can offer an interesting framework to assess the human enhancement project. (shrink)

Según reza la tradición, la filosofía nació del asombro. El mundo, pleno de verdad y de belleza, invitaba a la contemplación. Pero esta actitud reverente fue abandonada por las ideologías, que redefinieron a la filosofía como un programa de acción. El pensamiento devino praxis, programa transformador dirigido a eliminar los males y alienaciones, construyendo, por fin, el paraíso en la tierra. El TH puede interpretarse como una reedición de este espíritu ideológico, que apuesta por la tecnología como instrumento para la (...) revolución más radical: la transformación de la biología humana. En cuanto a lo metodológico, mi trabajo tiene dos partes. La primera (secciones 1 a 5) es una presentación general, que incluye una consideración acerca de la relevancia de la cuestión, su contexto filosófico, antecedentes, definición, y una alusión a las formas habituales en que el TH se autojustifica. En la segunda parte (secciones 6, 7 y 8) propongo un análisis teórico. En la sección 6, introduzco mi interpretación del TH como ideología. En la sección 7, analizo la dificultad fundamental del TH, esto es, su tendencia a colapsar, bajo el rótulo de aspectos indeseables e innecesarios de la naturaleza humana, verdaderos males con límites constitutivos. Ya en el apartado conclusivo, expongo cómo las dificultades ontológicas y epistémicas del progresismo radical de las ideologías afectan también al TH. (shrink)

In this article, I aim to show how the act of caring is essentially intertwined with biological, psychological, social, and moral meanings. This makes it a theoretical core upon which it is possible to develop a moderately naturalistic approach, one that is philosophically relevant and meaningful. To this end, I will proceed as follows. First, I will analyze the common tendency in philosophical discourse to oscillate between extreme positions, an epistemic flaw that creates a dilemma between stubborn reductionisms and intransigent (...) anti-reductionisms. Next, I will show how this opposition has manifested in ethics through a broad movement of naturalization — which incorporates the perspective of the natural sciences into philosophical analysis — to which much of philosophy has responded by retreating into itself, accentuating its methodological exclusivism. Finally, I will focus on the act of caring as an example to explore the relationships of continuity, novelty, and rupture between human biology and the moral dimension. (shrink)

A entrevista reúne algumas contribuições importantes de Alfredo Martínez Marcos no campo da pesquisa filosófica. Suas teses antropológicas oferecem uma defesa não ingênua da noção de natureza humana, enquanto, no âmbito epistêmico, apresenta uma concepção de conhecimento que busca um meio-termo entre a obsessão pela certeza e o desespero cético. Por fim, incluem-se suas reflexões sobre o valor da vulnerabilidade humana e a importância do presente como antídoto à falsa dicotomia entre progressismo e conservadorismo.