Humanism and the Anthropocene

<p><b>In response to the rise of anti-humanist thought, Tom Whyman proposes a new defence of humanism for the Anthropocene and the age of AI.</b> We live in an age where humanity has taken on an importance to nature so central that we have become, as a species, the primary driver of geological change. But this recognition hardly fills us with a sense of pride at our achievements. Instead we are increasingly ambivalent about our own humanity: an ambivalence manifested from the academic humanities to cutting-edge AI research that seeks to remove the human altogether. But what does it mean to be ‘human’ in the first place? And how do we regain a sense of the ethical value of our humanity? <br><br>Answering these questions, this book advances a new theory of ‘minimal humanism’. This involves the examination and acceptance of the ''human'' as a concept of meaningful, practical, ethical, and theoretical importance. Whyman argues that humanity cannot help but matter to us, as reason is essentially a human act, and criticises philosophers’ attempts to separate our animal nature from our rationality, arguing instead that they are dynamically intertwined with an ever-changing nature. And yet, Whyman emphasises, the humanism he presents is ‘minimal’, because, in agreement with anti-, trans-, and post-humanist critiques, he wishes to remind readers of humanism’s importance without enshrining our species as the absolute pinnacle of Being. <br><br>In lively dialogue with neo-Aristotelian ethical naturalism, Adorno, Marx, Midgley, Kant, and others, this is essential reading for anyone grappling with the ethical value of the ‘human’ in the 21st century.</p>