PR-Posthumanism Theory Research

Deconstructed responsibility

The contemporary Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben explored the unbridgeable division between humans and animals and the emergence of inhumans through the discussion of animals. "If man has always been the location of constant division and interruption, and at the same time the result of division and interruption, then what is a man? Therefore, the more urgent thing is to devote to the discussion of these divisions and ask in what way- —As far as humans are concerned — separate humans from non-mans, and separate beasts from humans."

德里达(Jacques Derrida)举过一个自身的例子：一天他在浴室与一只猫相遇，因为赤身露体被猫注视而感到羞耻，同时又为产生这种羞耻感而感到羞耻。

Jacques Derrida gave an example of himself: one day he met a cat in the bathroom and felt ashamed because he was naked and looked at by the cat, and at the same time he felt ashamed of the shame.

由此德里达开始反思，当他被猫注视的时候，他是谁？为什么动物的凝视会让他产生羞耻感？赤裸和因赤裸而产生羞耻感是人类所独有的概念，就如同理性、言语、死亡意识、伦理、存在等。人类从来都是去 “看”动物，却从未意识到自己也会被“看”。“看”是一个物化的过程，是对他者进行分类、定义和评判的过程，“被看”则意味着沦为客体化、对象化。在整个西方哲学史上，动物总是被哲学家所观看的对象，却从未意识到自己也会处于被看的位置。然而，这只猫的凝视让德里达“看到了人类深不可测的界限，非人类的或非人道的东西，人类的终结”。

Derrida began to reflect on this, when he was watched by a cat, who was he? Why does the stare of an animal make him feel ashamed? Nakedness and shame caused by nakedness are concepts unique to human beings, just like reason, speech, consciousness of death, ethics, existence, etc. Human beings always "see" animals, but never realize that they will also be "watched". "Looking" is a process of materialization, a process of classifying, defining, and judging others. "Looking" means becoming objectified and objectified. Throughout the history of Western philosophy, animals have always been viewed by philosophers, but they have never realized that they will also be in a position to be viewed. However, the cat's gaze allowed Derrida to "see the unfathomable limits of mankind, the inhuman or inhumane, the end of mankind."

去中心化

第二种“非人”的后人文主义是基于反人类中心主义的立场，关注人类之外的事物，重新思考人与环境、自然、社会、物质之间的关系。在人文主义的话语中，人类自然而然地占据中心地位，人与其他事物之间存在清晰的界限，以此来确立人类的主体性地位。但后人类社会所要描绘的是一幅去中心化，由混杂客体、异质性网络、流动的身份所组成的世界图景。

当电脑能够打败人类下棋时，当生命以代码的形式被理解时，当死亡可以被延迟或通过药物介入被改变，当基因工程揭示了人类和大猩猩拥有98％的相似基因时，当人工肢体与有机体无缝连接时，当人工智能的一些专家相信不久的将来人类通过将自身转变为电脑而获得永生时，旧有的人文主义模式和语汇似乎无法描绘当前事物的秩序和变化。因此，理论家们试图寻求新的术语来描绘后人类的社会。

Decentralization

A kind of "non-human" post-humanism is based on an anti-anthropocentrism standpoint, focusing on things other than humans, and rethinking the relationship between humans and the environment, nature, society, and material. In the discourse of humanism, mankind naturally occupies a central position, and there is a clear boundary between man and other things in order to establish the subjective position of mankind. But what the post-human society wants to describe is a decentralized world picture composed of mixed objects, heterogeneous networks, and flowing identities.

When computers can beat humans to play chess, when life is understood in the form of codes, when death can be delayed or changed through drug intervention, when genetic engineering reveals that humans and gorillas have 98% similar genes, when artificial When the body and the organism are seamlessly connected, when some experts in artificial intelligence believe that humans will be immortal by transforming themselves into computers in the near future, the old humanistic models and vocabulary seem to be unable to describe the order and changes of current things. Therefore, theorists try to find new terms to describe post-human society.

矛盾

一方面技术狂热者雄心勃勃地展望人类的美好未来，渴望成为世界的中心，宇宙的主宰，试图掌控一切，在成为“超人”的欲念中无限膨胀。另一方面哲学家和理论家又看到了人类自身的局限性与人性的复杂，极为悲观地从“非人”的角度反思人何以成为人。更为吊诡的是，人类越渴望成为超人，越以自我为中心，结果却发现越多非人的因素。

Ivan Callus and Stefan Herbrechter认为“后人文主义可以看作是对最原始的罪和傲慢的内疚”。

在当前的语境下，后人文主义的一个重要维度是驱逐人类中心主义，

动摇长久以来占据主导地位的人文主义价值观。而人文主义在西方语境中几乎与无神论、世俗主义相关联，本质则是源于人与上帝的分裂，从以神为中心走向了以人类为中心，人成为了万物的尺度。文艺复兴、启蒙运动都极力颂扬人类的理性与能力，但这种骄傲自大的心态恰恰就是西方文明中的“原罪”。自现代世界以来，人类似乎并没有使得这个世界变得更美好，物种灭绝、环境污染以前所未有的速度在加快，两次世界大战更是摧毁了人们对于理性和美好人性的期盼，层出不穷的反人道、反人性的事件令人胆战心惊。因此，人们开始意识到，人类的自以为是带来了自身无法承受的苦果，不得不停下脚步，重新反思自我与他人、自我与地球其他生命体之间的关系。从这个角度看，后人文主义的观念就是对于人类一直引以为傲的主体地位的反思和批判。但是，一旦失去这种主体性的地位，人类却又有所顾虑和不安，因此，“后人文主义”话语一直徘徊于超人欲望和非人批判的矛盾之中。

contradiction

On the one hand, technology enthusiasts are ambitiously looking forward to the beautiful future of mankind, eager to be the center of the world, the master of the universe, trying to control everything, and infinitely expanding in their desire to become a "superman". On the other hand, philosophers and theorists have seen the limitations of human beings and the complexity of human nature, and they are extremely pessimistic about how people become humans from the perspective of "non-human". What is even more paradoxical is that the more human beings aspire to be superman, the more self-centered they are, the more inhuman factors they find.

Ivan Callus and Stefan Herbrechter believe that “post-humanism can be seen as guilt for the most primitive sin and arrogance”.

In the current context, an important dimension of post-humanism is to expel anthropocentrism.

Shake the humanistic values ​​that have long dominated. In the Western context, humanism is almost related to atheism and secularism. Its essence is derived from the separation of man and God, from being God-centered to being human-centered, and man has become the yardstick of all things. Both the Renaissance and the Enlightenment strive to extol human reason and ability, but this arrogant mentality is precisely the "original sin" in Western civilization. Since the modern world, mankind does not seem to make the world a better place. Species extinction and environmental pollution are accelerating at an unprecedented rate. The two world wars have destroyed people’s expectations for rationality and a beautiful humanity, and there have been endless reactions. Humane and anti-human incidents are frightening. Therefore, people have begun to realize that human beings’ self-righteousness has brought bitter results that they cannot bear, and they have to stop and reconsider the relationship between self and others, and between self and other life forms on the earth. From this perspective, the concept of post-humanism is a reflection and criticism of the dominant position that mankind has always been proud of. However, once the status of subjectivity is lost, human beings have worries and anxiety. Therefore, the discourse of "post-humanism" has been hovering in the contradiction between superhuman desire and inhuman criticism.