A later version of the development of postmodern philosophy substantively unfolds as the generation of programs to overcome it.
This strand was stimulated by such phenomenon as the "identity crisis", which consisted in the fact that in postmodernism the fate of man was turned into a relative and variable narrative.
In this regard, the strategic orientation of After-Postmodernism is aimed at the "resurrection of the subject" and the reconstruction of subjectivity. (M. Gottdiner, 1998; John Ward, Claus-Otto Apel, 1997, 1998).
A broad socio-philosophical and cultural movement that unites a wide-ranging set of theories and concepts that overcome postmodernism from various substantive positions and offer a language for describing the new era.
Postpostmodernism does not break with postmodernism definitively but maintains continuity and considers many of its provisions in a new light.
The postmodern irony is replaced by trust, dialogue, and sincerity, and the reflection and reconstruction of layers of information is predominantly carried out with the help of a qualitatively new virtual reality.
Attempts to understand key changes and new trends in socio-economic development have led to the search for a new language of description and the creation of concepts like "late" or "high" modernity (A. Giddens, 1991), "second modernity" or "risk society" (U. Beck, 1992), "super modernity" (M. Augé, 1995) "network society" (M. Castells, 1996), "fluid" modernity (Z. Bauman, 2000).
The main trends of post-postmodernism
Consistent criticism of postmodernism has led to the emergence of a whole spectrum of new postmodern theories in art, society and philosophy, that overcome postmodernism from a variety of substantive positions.
It is one of the most holistic, well-known and sought-after versions of postmodernism, characterized by a culture of excess, economies of excess, hyperconsumption, hyperconsumerism and hypertextuality, tension, urgency and exaggeration of everything that exists, super-speed, hyper-individualism and stress freedom. (Arthur Krocker and David Cook, 1988; Allan Pred, 1997; John Armitage, 2000; Paul Virilio, 2002; Francois Asher, 2004).
According to this concept, the need for the new is at the heart of modern life, which is reinforced by the Internet and social media and triggers hyper-consumption.
The focus is on novelty, which then quickly gets old and forces the search for something new. The modern world is characterized by a complexity that multiplies paradoxes, by "trans-aesthetics," by the affirmation of commercial and mass art. (Gilles Lipovetsky, 2007, 2013), Nicole Aubert (2008)
Supermodernity is seen as a kind of hypermodernism. While modernism focused on the creation of great truths or "metanarratives" and postmodernism aimed at their deconstruction, supermodernism deals with meta-truths. The main criteria of a meta-truth are relevance and usefulness, and its truth or falsity is irrelevant. Supermodernity is a step beyond the ontological emptiness of postmodernism and reliance on plausible heuristic truths. (Terry Eagleton, 2003; Kashif Vikaas, Marc Auge, 2010).
Many particular versions of post-postmodernism can be grouped around such spheres as:
- culture and art,
- society,
- technology,
- economics,
- philosophy.
I. Culture and the Arts
is a new post-postmodern cultural modality that challenges the "fractional conception of the sign and strategies of breaking the boundaries of postmodernism," aestheticizes presentism, and views the current socio-culture as an era of performance. (Raoul Eshelman, 2000, 2008).
Performatism replaces postmodern irony and scepticism with artistically mediated belief and the experience of transcendence. Argumentation and evidence are replaced by presentation, a synthesis of visibility and actor-hood. The Internet has become a platform for such performances, where aesthetic contexts are formed with the help of computer technologies, setting and developing their own meanings.
is a new cultural paradigm that emerged as a result of numerous transnational cultural entanglements in the context of globalization (Nicolas Bourriaud , 2009).
This trend is mainly concerned with overcoming postmodernism in art, by describing a new modernity based on the blending of local cultural values and linking them to a global network.
This is the territory of the frontier, and the artist altermodernist, appears as a "homo viator", a man wandering, overcoming, erasing all and any boundaries.
is a concept of post-postmodernism based on the peculiarities of metaprose (metafiction) and metaphysical texts (Josh Toth, 2010, 2020).
The trend builds on the heyday of neorealism and new versions of materialism. Renewalism renews its interest in sense and meaning, in humanistic values such as truth, authenticity of feeling, and moral truth. However, renewalism does not argue for a simplistic return to Enlightenment values of truth.
It offers a new and expanded notion of truth that relies mainly on moral truth, imagination and fantasy, on the ability to anticipate and create our own as well as alternative worlds.
cosmodernity or planetaryism is a cultural paradigm whose main characteristic is relationality or "being-in-relationship with the other," “rationale and vehicle for a new togetherness”, the basis and means for a new unity, for solidarity between people.
What distinguishes Cosmodernism from Postmodernism is that, in addition to thematic and formal techniques, it explores the problem of the "other" and refers to ethics.
This is a new culture of the Imaginary, a special view of the world against the background of accelerating globalization, which is replaced by a new term - planetarism. It proposes overcoming otherness and the division into subject and object through a cosmodern imaginary, within which the self is the receptacle of the many (Cristian Moraru, 2011).
is an artistic current of post-postmodernism that is closer to the critical and experimental spirit of modernism than to its contemporary forms. At the same time, Off-modernism implements not just modernization, but the creative concept of "what if". (“The Off-Modern Mirror”, Svetlana Boym, 2010).
II. Society
is a concept describing a new epoch, a modern flexible, 'light' and 'liquid', fluid, free of various boundaries and conditions, in which certain words, forms and institutions are dying out.
Zygmunt Bauman (1997, 2000) stated the advent of a completely new time and a new era that requires changes in meaning and a new language of description.
The new reality is in a state of continuous displacement, melting and flowing, in which individuality himself becomes mobile and unencumbered by long-term commitments, striving for movement and uninterrupted change.
III. Technologies
is one of the concepts of postmodernism, proposing a new paradigm of modernity based on digital technology.
Alan Kirby (2006, 2009) calls the new era following postmodernism pseudo-modernism and associates it with vanity and shallowness, superficial participation in cultural life, and the immediacy of social interactions. He argues that digital modernism is based on a new kind of "aesthetic of speed" and a "culture of simulation," in which the boundaries between reality and virtual reality are blurred.
Pseudo-modernism is characterized by such phenomena as imitations, displacement of reality with fakes or symbols, and trance states, "ignorance, bigotry, and anxiety”.
Modernity is described as a networked age, which is characterized by the use of digital technologies and networks to create new forms of art, literature, and culture. In this regard, the focus is directed to the study of how the Internet, computers, smartphones and other new technologies abolish the postmodern and redefine our culture and structure life. How they define the subject of interactivity, changes the nature of communication and communication, as well as the very way of existence.
is a version of post-postmodernism that explores the impact of technology on contemporary social practices and is based on a dialectic of individual autonomy and technological automation.
The prefix "auto" emphasizes the automation of the surrounding reality on the one hand and the desire for personal autonomy of the subject on the other hand.
The concept of auto-modernism, is characterized by a mixture of capitalism, democracy, science and informatization in the context of globalization. Various digital devices gadgets, smartphones, robotic assistants, wireless devices and software are increasingly transforming everyday life and reshaping the tissue of social relations. This transformation has led to a new kind of subjectivity, in which individuals are constantly connected to each other and to a global network of information and communication. The auto-modernity as both an opportunity and a challenge. On the one hand, it offers new possibilities for creativity, self-expression, and social connection. On the other hand, it can also lead to new forms of alienation, addiction, and inequality, as individuals become increasingly dependent on technology and the corporations that control it. (Robert Samuels, 2007, 2009).
- a concept of postmodernism that explores the impact of the Internet on the economy, culture, nature and forms of the social, as well as the human self.
It argues for the fusion of the individual and his avatar, of networking and social connections, of the Internet and its users. Critical Internet Theory is based on the premise that the internet is not a neutral or objective tool, but rather a site of struggle and contestation, where different interests and ideologies compete for control. The internet has the potential to empower individuals and groups, but also that it can be used to reinforce existing power structures and to perpetuate inequality and exploitation.
The concept predicts and offers an optimistic version of the development of the Internet.
"Orgnets”, small collectives of like-minded people, will replace the corporate strategies of the Internet giants. Orgnets are distinct from other forms of social organization, such as bureaucracies or hierarchies, because they are based on a flexible, decentralized structure that allows for more fluid and adaptive forms of collaboration. Orgnets are characterized by a shared purpose or goal, a strong sense of community, and a high degree of participation and engagement among members.
Instead of a strategy of perpetual hypergrowth based on sharing and updates, orgnets focus on the importance of strong connections and the need for real action. Gert Lovink has outlined and justified his socio-cultural conception of the Internet in a collection of essays from different years (2012 - 2019).
IV. Socio-Economic Patterns
These versions of post-postmodernism emphasize changes in capitalism rather than postmodernism and draw on the famous work of American philosopher Fredric Jameson, "Postmodernism, or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism," published back in 1990.
is a concept describing the modern era, based not just on a particular type of realism, but on pure realism as such. Capitalist realism is based on a kind of "business ontology," in which everything, including health care and education, is to be run like a regular business. The term "capitalist realism" describes the dominant cultural and ideological mode that is characterized by a sense of resignation and acceptance of the current state of affairs, and an inability to imagine a different future.
Capitalist realism has produced a kind of "depressive hedonia," in which individuals are encouraged to pursue pleasure and enjoyment, but only within the narrow confines of consumer culture and the market. Capitalism fills every horizon of the conceivable, penetrates even the unconscious, and colonizes the dreams of the entire population,
The stance of ironic distance inherent in postmodern capitalism is supposed to endow us with immunity against the temptations of bigotry. (Mark Fisher, 2009).
This concept is one way of describing modernity, reflecting the growing saturation of the economic sphere with previously independent segments of everyday cultural life. One of the key features of actual capitalism is its reliance on knowledge-based and immaterial forms of production. Another important aspect of actual capitalism is its tendency towards "precarity."
Precarity refers to the increasingly unstable and insecure nature of work and employment in the modern economy, in which many workers are engaged in part-time, temporary, or contract-based work.
Post-postmodernism is associated with the "culturalization of the economy," with the description of a symbolic and service-oriented information economy.
1. Intensification, marks a qualitative shift, related to the fact that "just-in-time capitalism" increasingly relies on economic practices that create value through symbolic manipulation rather than through production. In the digital age, many industries have shifted away from traditional manufacturing and towards the production of intangible goods, such as software, data, and intellectual property.
2. A focus on intangible objects. Financial capital, itself produces money by manipulating money, as opposed to the "expansion" into new physical markets or borders more typical of industrial capitalism.
3. The "recoding" method. Cultural spheres of all kinds are recorded by the languages and practices of economics, and economic logic is increasingly intertwined with the symbolic dimensions and performative logic associated with language, cultural work and poetics. (Jeffrey Nealon, 2012).
V. Philosophy
is a philosophical and cultural movement based on combining elements of modernism and postmodernism in describing a complex identity that needs to be defined in relation to the global world.
Transmodernism can be seen as a continuation and critique of postmodernism, but also developed directly out of modernism, recognizing and using its various avant-garde styles. It sought to revive and modernize tradition rather than destroy or replace it. It recognizes the need for a more holistic and integrated approach to understanding the world and the complex problems that we face.
Transmodernism focuses on spirituality, altruism, the innate goodness of man, optimism, acceptance of the value of freedom, mysticism, the search for meaning and purpose in life and overcoming the limits of the available human existence. Its characteristics are globalism, transculturation, cooperation and dialogue of all cultures. Xenophilia is the love and inclination to travel to foreign lands, embrace exotic cultures, encounter unfamiliar people, and experience new sensations.
The idea of transmodernism as an alternative to postmodernism was put forward in the mid-1980s by the American philosophers Paul Ray and Sherry Ruth Anderson. The founder of Transmodernism is Enrique Dussel who coined the term "transmodern" (1995,1998), and representatives of Ziauddin Sardar (1997). Rosa Maria Rodriguez Magda (1989), Paul Ray (1996), David Jeffrey Smith (2003).
is a philosophical movement aimed at the multiplication of being, existence and essences, based on the idea of creating multiple alternatives to the dominant sign systems and theoretical models.
The direction was founded by Mikhail Epstein in his book "Philosophy of the Possible" (2001). He has also explored its implications for understanding the nature of creativity, the relationship between language and thought, and the role of culture and history in shaping our perceptions of the world. According to the author, philosophy has so far tried to explain or change the world, whereas its own task is to multiply possible worlds.
Potentialism offers a way to escape the limitations of traditional approaches to knowledge and understanding, which tend to be based on fixed categories and predetermined definitions. Instead, potentialism encourages us to embrace the complexity and ambiguity of the world around us and to explore the many different ways in which things can be interpreted and understood.
This philosophical system is focused on the construction, not of possible worlds, but of worlds of the possible, that is, on the potentiality of reality.
Potentiation is understood as the multiplication of conceivable objects by creating their alternatives, variations, and competing models. It continues the work of deconstruction on the "dissipation" of meanings, but it transfers this work from the critical to the constructive plane and can be oxymoronically called "positive deconstruction.
Protoism. This concept argues that modernity is not described with the prefix "post," but rather with "proto-," which signifies another and overdue shift in "post-post-postmodern" culture and represents a radical shift from finitude to originality as a modus operandi of thought. Philosophy, like the mythical god Proteus, is capable of taking on a variety of different guises. Proteus has also been used as a symbol of versatility, adaptability, and the ability to change in different situations or contexts. It is as diverse as the ways of human self-determination, self-awareness, self-explanation, and self-justification. Mikhail Epstein notes: “my favourite intellectual occupation is inventing new disciplines, new methods…. This is what actually the humanities enterprise may be: finding mutenesses and lacunae in the languages of existing disciplines and trying to fill them.
Début de Siecle, or From Post- to Proto-: A Manifesto for a New Century. (In rus., 2001) Michail Epstein
(from Latin transversus "transverse", trāns- "trans-, through" + vertere "turn") is a modern version of post-postmodernism, a new paradigm of the global world, a variant of philosophical reflection of reality and change at the current stage of socio-cultural development. (Wolfgang Welsch, Calvin Schrag).
Transversality argues for overcoming all dichotomies and polarizations, all limitations of metaphysical oppositions. Transversality is not just a middle ground between bipolar opposites, it represents the ability to transcend and transcend them. Transversality breaks through the very bipolarity of the poles: theory and practice, philosophy and nonphilosophy, opinion and body, femininity and masculinity, humanity and nature, Europe and non-Europe
"Transculturality takes into account difference and diversity, for without difference the 'multitude' becomes a crowd. It notes the impossibility of merging differences, hybridizing, creolizing all kinds of ethnicities and cultural values.(Wolfgang Welsch, 2002).
Transversality is presented as a way to overcome the opposition and dichotomy between the pure vertical "transcendentalism" of modernism and the horizontal "historicism" of postmodernism. Transversal reason promotes mutual recognition and guarantees the right of the existence of opposing paradigms. It "permeates" cultural differences and "penetrates" between them, which makes it possible to philosophize "across" cultural boundaries and worlds of life.
He redefines the notion of reason as transversal rather than universal. And in doing so, considers the transversality of consciousness, where distinctions are combined and the binarity of thought is a thing of the past. (Calvin Schrag, 2004).
Autopoesis (Greek αὐτός auto- -self, ποίησις - creation, creativity, production) is a philosophical and sociological concept based on the notion of self-generating and self-reproduction of living beings and the systems they form, which are distinguished by their organization generating them as a product without dividing into producer and product. This process of self-reproduction and self-maintenance is the basis of the autonomy and self-organization of living systems.
Literally, autopoiesis ("auto" - self and "poiesis" -creation) means the self-generating, self-construction, self-maintenance of living beings.
Living beings are characterized by "autopoiesis organization" that is, the ability to reproduce themselves - to generate, "build" themselves, to produce and reproduce themselves.
Enactivation is co-existence, joint and coordinated becoming of the subject and the object it cognizes, their coherent and iterative birth and coordinated transformation. (Humberto Maturana, Francisco Varela, 1980).
"Enactive cognition". This concept emphasizes the active role of the organism in creating and shaping its own perception and experience of the world. Life and cognition are inextricably linked, and the process of cognition is identified with the process of life. Mind is something like life, and life is something like the mind. Structures of consciousness are emergent and appear spontaneously, unpredictably and relatively undetermined in the course of self-organization processes. Personality as a recursive system generates new meanings creates worlds consisting of meanings, interacts with constructed networks of meanings, self-producing itself and the world as a whole. This view highlights the embodied and situated nature of cognition, and the importance of the organism's relationship with its environment in shaping its experience and behaviour (Evan Thompson, 2011).
New Age, is the common name for a collection of various spiritual, mystical, and philosophical currents and movements, mostly esoteric and syncretic in nature.
The activity of the followers of the movement in the most general form can be represented by the following directions:
1. Philosophical-esoteric doctrines and syncretic systems. Carlos Castaneda (1968), Ram Dass (1971, 2013), Oscar Ichazo (1976, 2020), Kenneth Wilber (1977, 2017), Starhawk (1979), David Spangler (1991), Drunvalo Melchizedek (2000b, 2015), James Redfield (2011).
2. The theory and practice of Channeling to contact and receive information from the Higher Intelligence and teachers by coming into mental contact with them. Dorothy Jane Roberts (1970), Helen Cohn Schuckman (1975), J.Z. Knight (1977), Doreen Werche (1997, 2011), Pepper Lewis (2005, 2017), Mark and Elizabeth Proffett (2006), Patricia Corey (2017), Ellen Tadd (2017).
3. The human development movement and concepts of personal growth, self-improvement and spiritual transformation. Richard Price (1962), Werner Hans Ehrhardt (1971), Edgar Mitcher and Willis W. Harman (1973), Marilyn Ferguson (1973), Shakti Gawain (1978), Louise Lynn Hay (184), Sal Rachel (1994, 2020), Eckhart Tolle (1997, 2005), Mark Nepo (2005, 2020)
4. The pursuit of a universal religion. Creation of various religious movements, groups and spiritual organizations. Osho (Bhagwan Sri Rajneesh), Sathya Sai Baba, Hazrat Inayat Khan, Bahai Religion.
5. The concept of a new "view of the world" and a unified model of the universe. The new physics. Achieving a planetary vision. James Lovelock (1979, 2009), Frithjof Capra (1975), Gary Zukav (1979), David Bohm (1980, 1993), Ilya Prigogine and Isabel Stengers (1984), Deepak Chopra (1989, 1994), Michael Coleman Talbot (1991).
The central tenets of the New Age worldview are:
1. The belief in a holistic form of divinity that permeates the entire universe as "Primary Flux," "One Essence," and "Universal Principle. Ocean of Oneness" and "Infinite Spirit.
2 The idea of basic unity and universal interconnectedness of all reality. The idea of the unity of all humans and all living beings as one boundless ocean of energy.
3. The idea of holistic divinity and the Identity of man with God. A belief in the existence of a core or true, divine Self. The belief in the primordial freedom and limitless possibilities of man.
4. The idea of a spiritual quest, involving the identification of the divine individual and the possibility of his merging with the Absolute
5. The fundamentality of the concept of personal and spiritual growth, self-development and transformation of human consciousness, which reveals the unity of the real self with the entire universe and all other beings.
6. Transition to personality-oriented values, the value of higher spiritual attainment and cultivation and embodiment of one's own divine potential (nirvana, samadhi, self-disclosure, self-realization, enlightenment).
7. Universal higher values (freedom, beauty, love, emotional unity).
8. Belief in a complex spiritual hierarchy and in the possibility of revelations and information coming from unearthly beings. The value of seeing unusual phenomena (mediums, clairvoyants, contactors, visionaries of astral worlds, psychonauts).
9. Value of the right way of life (vegetarianism, abstinence, goodness, observance of ritual rightness), beliefs in holistic healing, alternative medicine, and environmentalism.
is philosophical and cultural which challenges traditional humanist ideas about the nature of humanity and the relationship between humans and technology. It explores the ways in which technology and other factors are shaping and transforming our understanding of what it means to be human.
A humanistic worldview that opposes classical humanism and reconsiders human nature itself, based on the notion that human evolution is not complete and can continue into the future.
Posthumanism strongly opposes the previous practices of placing man at the centre of the universe and fixing his exclusivity.
It moves man out of the center of the universe, into the depths of the complex system of connections that unite all life on Earth.
It regards man as a part of Nature, which, like any other part of Nature, cannot be the highest value. Posthumanism rehabilitates and emphasizes the importance of non-human entities, and creates a world of new ecological and ethical connections between animals, plants, objects, machines, artefacts and people.
Posthumanists argue that evolutionary development should lead to the emergence of the posthuman, a hypothetical stage in the evolution of the human species.
Philosophical strands of posthumanism
It is a philosophical movement which seeks to challenge traditional assumptions about the nature of reality and knowledge.
Four philosophers including Quentin Meillassoux, Graham Harman, Ray Brassier, and Iain Hamilton Grant are the founders of this movement. They argue that traditional philosophy has been too focused on epistemology, or the study of knowledge, at the expense of ontology, and that we need to return to a more fundamental study of the nature of reality.
Speculative Realism is also characterized by a rejection of traditional forms of idealism and correlationism, which hold that knowledge is always mediated by human consciousness.
These philosophers united in their desire to overcome Kantian correlatio and the subject-object relationship between consciousness and existence but disagreed with one another on specific philosophical issues.
1. The concept of Quentin Meiyasu (2006), which strongly rejects the principle of correlation and offers ontological proof of the very possibility of thinking beyond the classical subject.
2. Transcendental nihilism (Ray Brassier, 2007).
The concept argues that there is an insurmountable gap between man, as the bearer of subjectivity, and the totality of the material world. The world around is not merely independent of man, but indifferent and even hostile to him.
3. Object-oriented ontology (OO) (Graham Harman 1999, 2012).
According to this philosophical concept, objects exist independently of human perception and question anthropocentrism, the centrality of the human gaze and the claim that the phenomenal world corresponds to the mind of the subject.
4. Transcendental materialism (Ian Hamilton Grant, 2006).
I. Grant advocates a return to Plato's understanding of matter, which is not only the basic building material of reality but also the force, the energy that governs our reality. Instead of refuting Plato, we should refute Kant and return to "speculative physics" in the Platonic tradition, that is, not the physics of the body, but the "physics of the whole".
5. A New Philosophy of Process (Stephen Shaviro, 2009; Jane Bennett, 2011).
This direction looks at reality from the position of panpsychism and explores how this understanding of things affects subjectivity.
The authors develop a concept of vitalist materialism, which reveals active, living, fluttering, pulsating, evaporating, and flowing matter.
Actor-network theory (ANT) is a theoretical approach developed by sociologists Bruno Latour and Michel Callon, and others, which emphasizes the role of both human and non-human entities in social interactions and networks. ANT suggests that social interactions are not solely driven by human agency, but are also shaped by the actions of non-human entities, such as technology, animals, and objects.
According to ANT, humans and non-humans are viewed as "actants" (actors) which are entities that
According to Bruno Latour, an actant is something that has efficacy and can do something, to change the course of events. An actant is any entity which has the ability to act and influence others in a network and transform another entity in the course of a trial. It is something whose capacity we cannot determine in advance: it can only be judged from the performance of the actant. (Bruno Latour, Michel Callon and John Law, 1986, 2003).
is a philosophical and theoretical approach that seeks to understand the world as a complex interplay of human and non-human agents, where an agency is defined as the capacity to act and make a difference. In this view, humans and non-human agents are seen as co-constitutive, meaning that they are mutually dependent and influence each other in a continuous feedback loop. The various objects in this world do not exist as data but are the result of complex syntheses of cultural-material mutually shaping influences. (Karen Barad, 2007).
New Materialism is a philosophical approach that seeks to understand the role of material objects, matter, and the natural world in shaping social relations, politics, and culture. This concept is based on a rejection of subject-centrism in the form of language or privileged existential experience of the subject, social constructivism and all forms of duality. New materialism explores the entanglement and connectedness of multiple human and non-human agents, the logics and homologies of interdisciplinary connections. New Materialism is often applied in fields such as feminist theory, environmental, science and technology studies, where it seeks to provide a more nuanced understanding of the complex relationships between humans and the non-human world. (Manuel De Landa, Jane Bennett, Karen Barad, Rosie Braidotti, 2013)
Critical posthumanism is a theoretical approach that seeks to challenge the traditional view of the human as a separate and dominant entity over the non-human world. This direction makes sense of the experience of being human in the context of globalization, technological development and climate change. It deliberately blurs the distinction between science fiction and science. This approach also challenges the notion of a universal, fixed and stable "human nature", and instead highlights the ways in which social and cultural practices shape human identity and subjectivity.
According to D. Haraway, we can no longer conceive of ourselves as human beings, it would be more correct to declare ourselves cyborgs. (Donna Haraway, Rosie Bridotti, 1985; Rosi Braidotti and Maria Hlavajova, 2018).
Donna Haraway. A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century, 1985).
is a field of theories and methods dealing with the intangible aspects of colonial rule and at the same time postulating the deconstruction of colonial discourses and patterns of thought that continue to influence the present. Postcolonial anthropology seeks to highlight the diversity of cultural practices and knowledge systems that exist outside of Western tradition and to challenge the idea of a universal human experience. Thus, Franz Fanon accuses humanism of striving to create uniformity, to impose the worldview of a limited circle of people as a kind of universal truth for all mankind.(Frantz Fanon, E. W. de Castro, Talal Asad, Aimee Césaire, Hortense Spillers, Fred Moten, 1986, 2008, 2014, 2019).
is a particular direction and part of the concept of posthumanism, its peculiar futurological offshoot. Transhumanism focuses on new technologies, which are seen as conditions and tools of human development, but retains humanism's notion of the human being as the centre of the world.
is a philosophical movement that seeks to explore the relationship between humans and technology in a way that goes beyond traditional transhumanism. While transhumanism focuses on using technology to enhance human capabilities, metahumanism seeks to go further and create a new kind of post-human existence. It also emphasizes the need to think beyond the human form and create new forms of consciousness that can transcend the limitations of the physical world.
The central idea of metahumanism is that humans can and should work towards creating a new kind of consciousness that is not limited by the biological constraints of the human body. This could involve the creation of artificial intelligences that are capable of self-awareness and self-improvement, or the development of new kinds of hybrid beings that merge humans and machines.
Metahumanism criticizes some of the fundamental components of humanism, such as free will, autonomy and the superiority of humans based on their rationality. At the same time, it overcomes the dualism of transhumanism and posthumanism, criticizes their individual positions and unites the central elements of both movements and can be seen as a link between them.
METAHUMANISM MANIFESTO Jaime del Val and Stefan Lorenz Sorgner (2010).
Transhumanism (from Latin trans - through, through, behind and homo - human) is a movement and a specific direction and a part of posthumanism concept, which explores and affirms qualitatively new possibilities of human development, expansion of human consciousness and enhancement of all abilities, due to development of science, creation and use of new technologies. The central idea of transhumanism is that humans can and should use technology to improve themselves beyond their current biological and cultural limitations.
Transhumanists talk about the need for directed human evolution, the fight against ageing and death, "settling" in new habitats, space exploration and projects on a planetary scale.
Their ideas are based on the main scientific trends with which transhumanists pin their hopes - immortalism, cryonics, artificial intelligence, genetic engineering, robotics, downloading human consciousness into computers, cyborgization and nanotechnology.
This could include the development of artificial intelligence, genetic engineering, brain-computer interfaces, and other technologies that allow humans to integrate with machines.
Transhumanists envision a future in which humans are able to live longer, healthier lives, and in which technology can be used to enhance intelligence, memory, creativity, and physical abilities.
Some transhumanists believe that humans will eventually be able to evolve into beings with abilities so greatly enhanced from their current state that they will merit the name posthuman.
Modern Concepts and Ideologies of Transhumanism
Transhumanism in its modern form was mainly formulated in the lectures and publications of F. M. Esfandiari (1970, 1973, 1989)
Contributing to its development were R. Ettinger, M. Minsky, Eric Drexler, and Chris Peterson, (1986, 1992), Mark Walker, Hans Moravek (1989).
("extropia as the metaphorical opposite of entropy"), an early school of transhumanist thought, an evolving system of values and standards for continuously improving the human condition. The central idea of extropianism is that humans can and should work towards improving themselves and their environment through the use of technology, with the goal of achieving a more advanced and enlightened state of being. Extropians believe that advances in science and technology will one day allow people to live indefinitely (Max More, Tom Morrow, 1988, 1990).
- Extropism is a branch of Extropianism which, along with technological progress, stresses the importance of personal development, addressing the real problems of humanity rather than the exploration of space. The goal of progress is to proclaim the achievement of the universal happiness of mankind.
The principles of extropism were defined in the work of Breki Tomasson and Hank Hyena in:
THE EXTROPIST MANIFESTO Breki Tomasson and Hank Hyena
is a trend in bioethics and transhumanism that advocates for the use of technology to enhance human pleasure and well-being. It calls for using technology not only to enhance human abilities but to maximize the happiness of all sentient beings and to end (abolish) suffering. Any means from imperfect modern psychotropic drugs to radical brain modification are acceptable to combat suffering. This can include things like genetic engineering, mind uploading, and other forms of advanced technology that seek to increase human capacity for happiness and pleasure. (David Pierce, 1995, 2009, 2017).
is a philosophical-futurological concept of a transition to an egalitarian social order through the development of advanced technology. It describes a vision of a future society in which advanced technology is used to create a classless, post-scarcity society, where resources and wealth are shared equally and democratic decision-making processes are used to govern society. Technocommunism assumes that all artificial material objects used by humans are created by a fully automated technical environment, without physical labour, based on information that is the common property of all humanity. The prerequisite for the transition to techno-communism is not a social revolution, but the development of technology and "technical solutions to problems. (Richard Stallman, 1985; K. Eric Drexler, 1986; Paul Cockshott, 1993; Paul Cockshott, 2006; Nick Srnicek and Alex Williams, 2015).
a political ideology and philosophy that synthesizes liberal democracy, social democracy, radical democracy, and transhumanism. It advocates for the use of technology to enhance human potential and to create a more democratic society. Post-politicism is a transhumanist political movement aimed at creating a "post-democratic state" based on reason and people's free access to improved technologies. (James Hughes, 2004; Max More, 2014; Nick Bostrom, 2014; Mark Walker, 2020)/
is a political ideology and philosophy that combines libertarian and transhumanist ideas. It advocates for individual liberty, free markets, and the use of technology to enhance human potential. It is based on the principle of self-ownership, which states that rational self-interest and a rational attitude toward new technologies will allow a significant expansion of human freedoms. ( Murray Bookchin, 1971; Kevin Carson, 2001; Anders Sandberg, 2002).
Techno-Gaianism (from "techno-" - technology and "gaian" - Gaia) is a transhumanist trend aimed at creating clean and safe technologies as important factors in protecting nature and the environment. It advocates for the use of technology to create a harmonious relationship between humans and nature. This ecological ideology is based on the belief that new technologies can help restore the Earth's environment (John Todd, 1994; Stuart Brand, 2009; Mark Pesce, 2017).
is a social philosophy that seeks to voluntarily eliminate gender as a biological and social construct. It advocates for the use of technology to create a society that transcends traditional gender roles and norms. It tries to eliminate gender from people through the use of advanced biotechnology and assisted reproductive technologies (Donna Haraway, 1985; Sandy Stone, 1987; Judith Butle, 1990; Martine Rothblatt,1995).
is a philosophical movement that seeks to achieve a biomorphic, kinesthetic and subjective ideal by changing one's body and changing oneself. It seeks to challenge and subvert societal norms and expectations through the use of technology to enhance the human body and mind. It advocates for a radical reimagining of what it means to be human. This movement considers biomorphic freedom to be its highest value and goal (Natasha Vita-More, 2002; Mark O'Connell, 2017; Stefan Lorenz Sorgner, 2018).
is a philosophical and scientific movement and moral ideology based on the belief that radical life extension and technological immortality are possible and desirable, and which promotes research and development to ensure its realization. It is in favour of the use of technology to achieve physical immortality and the elimination of age-related diseases (Robert Ettinger, 1964; James Hughes, 2010; Maria Konovalenko, 2013).
is a concept in transhumanist thought and a moral ideology based on the belief that technological singularity, "intellectual explosion" and "unrestrained reaction" cycles of self-improvement are possible. It refers to a hypothetical future point in time when artificial intelligence surpasses human intelligence, leading to an unprecedented and unpredictable transformation of human civilization. Singularity is often associated with the idea of exponential technological progress, where advances in science and technology accelerate at an increasingly rapid pace.
As a moral ideology, Singularity proponents believe that the rapid advancement of technology and the creation of advanced artificial intelligence have the potential to solve many of the world's problems, such as disease, poverty, and environmental destruction. They also argue that the Singularity could lead to the enhancement of human abilities and the eradication of suffering, allowing humanity to achieve a state of post-scarcity and abundance (Vernor Vinge, 1993; Max More, 1996; Ray Kurzweil, 2005; Eliezer Yudkowsky, 2008); Nick Bostrom, 2014).
is a socio-economic theory that argues for greater economic and social equality among individuals and groups. The central idea behind equalization is that everyone should have access to the same opportunities, resources, and benefits, regardless of their social or economic status. Its major ideas are associated with equalization of redistribution of wealth and income, universal access to basic goods and services, elimination of discrimination and empowerment of marginalized groups.
It is based on the idea that new technologies will end social stratification through equal distribution of resources in an era of technological singularity. The goal of equalization is to create a more just and equitable society where everyone has access to the resources and opportunities they need to thrive.
In 1983, designer and author Natasha Vita-More (born February 23, 1950), wife of Max More, wrote "The Transhumanist Manifesto" and within a few years produced a series of manifestos about transhumanist and extropic art.
Transhumanist Manifesto 1983 Natasha Vita-More
In 2020, Natasha Vita-More published a fourth version of the manifesto:
Transhumanism Manifesto 2020 Natasha Vita-More
Physicist and cyberneticist Valentin F. Turchin (1931 -2010) and American cognitive scientist, cyberneticist Cliff Joslyn (born 1963) published "The Cybernetic Manifesto" in 1990, whose main points fit into the philosophy of the transhumanist movement.
The Cybernetic Manifesto 1990 Valentin F. Turchin and Cliff Joslyn
In 1998, philosophers David Pierce and Nick Bostrom founded the World Transhumanist Association (WTA), an international non-governmental organization working to recognize transhumanism as a legitimate object of scientific research and public policy.
The two founding documents of the WTA were the Transhumanist FAQ and the Transhumanist Declaration.
The Transhumanist Declaration was originally developed in 1998 by an international group of authors and has been modified over the years by various authors and organizations.
The Transhumanist Declaration 2002
A new transhumanist declaration, also drafted by a number of authors including Nick Bostrom, was adopted by the Humanity + Board in March 2009.
The Transhumanist Declaration 2009
Metamodernism (Greek mετά - after; English modern - modern) is a generalization of the changes and states of philosophy and culture of the early twenty-first century.
Metamodernism can be seen as a worldview and a kind of cultural sensitivity that reflects a specific sensitivity, as a way of life, a way of experiencing and thinking.
Metamodernism represents a new philosophy, a way of thinking, "thinking about thinking," and finding one's own identity in the rapidly approaching globalized digital age.
It represents a new vision, a certain systemic "supersensitivity", a unique worldview caused by the synthesis and simultaneous coexistence of modernism and postmodernism, the oscillation between their basic approaches, positions and concepts.
Metamodernism "oscillates between the enthusiasm of modernism and postmodernist mockery, between hope and melancholy, between simplicity and awareness, empathy and apathy, unity and multitude, wholeness and cleavage, clarity and ambiguity" - a kind of a conceptual oxymoron.
The emergence of metamodernism in the 2010s is associated with the fourth industrial revolution, which consists of the rapid introduction into real life of high-speed mobile Internet, virtual and augmented reality, blockchain, self-learning machines, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, cyberphysical systems and the Internet of Things.
The independent emergence of metamodernism within culture, literature, film, painting and art theory. Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, 1995; Andre Ferlani (2002); Alexandra Dumitrescu (2005, 2010).
A systematic philosophical grounding of the term "metamodernism" was first undertaken by the Dutch philosopher Robin van den Acker and the Norwegian art theorist Timotheus Vermeulen in their essay "Notes on Metamodernism" (2010).
Notes on Metamodernism Robin van den Acker and Timotheus Vermeulen
British artist and photographer Luke Turner is the author of "The Metamodernist Manifesto," which appeared online in 2011.
The Metamodernist Manifesto Luke Turner
In 2013, the New Zealand-Australian musician, composer, writer, poet, and historian Gary Forrester identified 11 essential characteristics of metamodernism on the website "Exploring Metamodernism."
Defining Metamodernism Gary Forrester
In 2015 Luke Turner published Metamodernism: A Brief Introduction on Queen Mob’s Teahouse.
Metamodernism: A Brief Introduction Luke Turner
A collective monograph, Metamodernism: Historicity, Affect, and Depth after Postmodernism, edited by R. van den Acker, Alison Gibbons, and T. Vermeulen, was published in 2017.
The collection contains articles by the editors themselves, as well as such authors as James McDowell, Josh Toth, Jörg Heiser, Sierd van Tuinen, Lee Constantinou, Nicolin Timmer, Gray S. Rusted and Kai Hanno Schwind, Irmtraud Huber and Wolfgang Funk, Sam Brause, Raul Eshelman, James Elkins.
In the same year, the Swedish philosopher, sociologist, and leader of the Nordic school of metamodernism, Daniel Görtz, and the Danish historian and philosopher Emil Ejner Friis, writing under the pseudonym Hanzi Freinacht, published The Listening Society: A Metamodern Guide to Politics (2017).
American cultural historians Greg Dember and Linda Ceriello, in their essays and interviews "What is Metamodernism?" (2018, 2021), examine such concepts as traditionalism, modernism, postmodernism, cultural sensitivity, and methods of metamodernism and attempt to capture the changing sense of the new age.
