The annual Bentham Lecture was held at University College London (UCL) on Tuesday 26 November, organised by the Humanist Philosophers’ Group, with support from the British Humanist Association (BHA) and the UCL Philosophy Department. The lecture was delivered by Professor Anne Phillips FBA, Graham Walls Professor of Political Science at the London School of Economics. The subject of Professor Phillips’ lecture was ‘Humanism and the Posthuman Challenge’.
Professor Phillips is a leading figure in feminist political theory. Before being awarded the title of Graham Wallas Professor of Political Science in 2012, her previous positions at the LSE included Professor of Gender Theory and Director of the Gender Institute. Her other awards and accolades include an honorary Doctorate from the University of Aalborg in 1999, an adjunct professorship in the Research School of Social Sciences at the Australian National University from 2002-6, being elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 2003, and a Special Recognition Award from the Political Studies Association in 2008. Her previous work has focused on feminist ideas, such as her award-winning book Engendering Democracy, which approached democratic theory from a feminist perspective, and Our Bodies, Whose Property?, which looks at the notion that the human body can be treated as property, and the problems which this poses for the achievement of human equality.
In the Bentham Lecture, Professor Phillips discussed the technological and moral questions posed by recent developments in cybernetics and biotechnology. For example, how will the modification of the human body affect how we relate to one another, considering that we use our bodies to interact and communicate? Will it be possible to use digital technology to enhance human intelligence, way beyond what humans are currently capable of? Once these enhanced or post-human beings have been created, what kind of relationship will they have with ordinary humans?
Professor Phillips expressed a sceptical attitude towards post- and trans-humanism, because of the negative impact which they could have on the achievement of human equality. She mentioned the views of philosopher Francis Fukuyama, who reflected on what rights trans-humans would possess in comparison to ordinary humans, and who argued that trans-humanism’s alteration of human nature would undermine the ideal of equal rights which we aspire to in a liberal democracy (though Professor Phillips did not entirely agree with Fukuyama’s conception of ‘human nature’). Also mentioned were the views of philosopher Jürgen Habermas, who was similarly sceptical, and argued that the creation of trans-humans would place restrictions on human autonomy by subjecting individuals to specifications imposed by someone else.
Overall the lecture was highly engaging and stimulating, and was followed by a lively question and answer session and a drinks reception hosted by the UCL Philosophy Department.
About the Humanist Philosophers’ Group
The Humanist Philosophers’ Group was established in 2000 and since then has published pamphlets, press releases, articles in newspapers and journals, and letters to the press and government departments supporting humanist principles. The Humanist Philosophers Group organise public lectures and aims to support the BHA in its campaigning work and to explore some of the complexities in the humanist alternative to religious belief.
About the Bentham Lecture
The Bentham Lecture is part of the BHA’s annual lecture programme, which also includes the Voltaire, Holyoake and Darwin lectures. For information about future BHA events, visit humanists.uk/meet-up/events.