The Transhumanist Reader is now available on Amazon

The Transhumanist Reader, edited by Max More and Natasha Vita-More, is now available on Amazon, with a release date announced for 29 April. If you click on the image on Amazon’s site you will be able to sample material inside the book, including its full table of contents.

I can’t give the book an actual review without having read it, but the list of contributors looks very strong indeed. It includes, in addition to the two editors: Nick Bostrom, Anders Sandberg, Laura Belof, Martine Rothblatt, Damien Broderick, James Hughes, Ray Kurzweil, Gregory Stock… and see for yourself. This is a who’s who of people who are involved in transhumanism and/or the general pro-technology movement. The editors have done an extraordinary job with this collection of people, many of whom doubtless disagree with each other (or in some cases probably even dislike each other). To get them all together in what looks like a definitive collection of reprinted and new articles must have taken a great deal of skill and diplomacy.

Among the contributions is my own article, “The Great Transition: Ideas and Anxieties” – this sets out my understanding of what transhumanism is all about, at its core, and how I think we should respond to it. It’s the nearest I could come up with to a definitive statement about the nature of transhumanism, but I’m sure many people (possibly even including many of the other contributors) will disagree with it. That’s all to the good. Very much in this area is contested, and we need debate – preferably conducted in a careful, reasonable, civil way, even though transhumanism and similar ideas can cause anxieties and inflame emotions.

I very much look forward to reading the book myself. If these ideas interest you, this promises to be the most authoritative book to date, revealing disagreements as well as agreements, and highlighting the richness and diversity of transhumanist and related thought. If you do read the book and you like it… well, spread the word (e.g. by reviewing it on its Amazon page).

Actually, the same goes for all the books I’m associated with. I hate to bang on about this, but the best way you can support my work (if you’re so inclined) is by spreading the news when you read stuff that you like by me, or from projects, such as The Transhumanist Reader, that I’m involved in.