BEGIN:VCALENDAR PRODID:-//Grails iCalendar plugin//NONSGML Grails iCalendar plugin//EN VERSION:2.0 CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260610T195632Z DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Belgrade:20120910T100000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Belgrade:20120914T180000 SUMMARY:Enhancement\, Emerging Technologies\, and Social Challenges UID:20260614T200534Z-iCalPlugin-Grails@philevents-web-bd7db559-gt5qm TZID:Europe/Belgrade LOCATION:Dubrovnik\, Croatia DESCRIPTION:

Major topics include: bioenhancement\, technology and ethics\, transhumanism\, posthumanism\, and social responsibilities.

The University of Zagreb\, The New York Institute of Technology\, University \;Erlangen-Nü\;rnberg and Dublin City University are pleased to announce \;the 4th Conference on Beyond Humanism: Trans- and Posthumanism. The 1st Conference took place in April 2009 at the University of Belgrade \;(Humanism and Posthumanism)\, the 2nd Conference in September 2010 at the \;University of the Aegeans (Audiovisual Posthumanism)\, and the \;3rd Conference in October 2011 at Dublin City University (Transforming \;Human \;Nature).

The specific focus of the event &ldquo\;Enhancement\, Emerging Technologies\, and \;Social Challenges&rdquo\; are the social challenges which we have to face due to \;the rapid development of emerging technologies. In order to guarantee a \;systematic treatment of the topic we will particularly focus on the \;following five topics:

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  1. Enhancement as social challenge: As part of this topic\, we will be \;concerned with the social challenges related to moral enhancement\; genetic \;enhancement\; neuroenhancement\; cyborg enhancement.
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  2. Enhancing Evolution. As part of this topic both historical as well as \;systematic treatments are being dealt with. Hence\, we will be concerned \;both with the historical debate between Aldous and Julian Huxley which lead \;to the publication of the influential books "Brave New World" and "New \;Bottles for New Wine". The relationship between Nietzsche\, Transhumanism \;and the contemporary eugenics debates will also be covered as part of this \;course. However\, contemporary systematic topics like the social challenges \;related to the Movie "Gattaca" or the John Harris monograph "Enhancing \;Evolution" will not be neglected\, either.
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  3. Bioarts\, Body Art and Performance Art. Questions such as the following \;will be tackled: Which social challenges are related to Kac's works of art? \;Does Orlan's Carnal Art raise significant questions concerning the \;challenges of plastic surgery? How does Nyman's opera "Facing Goya" address \;central questions concerning eugenics? Are his worries plausible?\; Does \;Jaime del Val's performance convince of the need to move beyond a duality \;of sexes towards a plurality of sexes?
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  4. Human Dignity. Several questions need to be considered in this context. \;Is it possible to accept the theory of evolution and to also affirm the \;special status of human beings as categorically separate from other natural \;beings? Which characteristics are necessary for distinguishing the \;dignity of humans\, metahumans\, transhumans and posthumans? Do posthumanists\, \;and transhumanists put forward plausible challenges concerning human \;dignity? Is the concept of the embodied mind compatible to that of human \;dignity? Will there be the need to introduce the concept of post-persons\, \;whereby post-persons have a higher moral status as persons?
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  5. Enhancement and Health Insurance Companies. In this context the \;following questions will be addressed: Are vaccination a type of \;enhancement? What is a disease and what ought to be referred to as merely a \;special trait?\; Is it possible to introduce regulations concerning health \;insurances such that the issue of global justice is being considered? Does \;a liberal state necessarily lead to structures which neglect social justice? \;The aim of this multidisciplinary conference is to bring together voices \;and perspectives from a variety of academic disciplines as well as fields \;of public practice and application concerning the development and \;transformation of our understanding of &lsquo\;the human&rsquo\; and the related social \;challenges. We invite papers from across the disciplines that will shed \;light on \;the state of affairs\, especially the consequences of enhancement and \;transhumanist and posthumanist accounts of &lsquo\;the human.&rsquo\;
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Fees \;and registration: A reduced registration fee of &euro\;50 (65USD) will apply \;to all participants.

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Location: The conference will take place at the Inter-University Center\, \;Dubrovnik\, Croatia: \;http://www.iuc.hr/

For further information:

Please see our conference website: \;www.transformingthehuman.org \;and\, if you have any questions\, please do not hesitate to email one of the \;organizers. \;There is also an book series connected to the conference series:

&ldquo\;Beyond Humanism: Trans- and Posthumanism&rdquo\;\, Peter Lang Publisher

If you have an unpublished manuscript which falls into the range of topics \;listed above or on the following website and if you are looking for an \;appropriate publishing house\, you can consider getting in contact with Dr. \;Stefan Lorenz Sorgner (www.sorgner.de):

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http://www.peterlang.com/index.cfm?cid=694&\;event=cmp.ccc.seitenstruktur.detailseiten&\;seitentyp=series&\;pk=19458

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