Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Bioética e o futuro pós-humano: Ideologia ou utopia, ameaça ou esperança?

2014; Volume: 29; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.46525/ret.v29i1.127

2525-846X

Léo Pessini,

Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life

Resumo: Um dos maiores desafios para a bioetica neste inicio de seculo XXI, batizado como “o seculo da biotecnologia” e a chegada da era do pos-humanismo ou transumanismo. Estamos comecando a considerar seriamente possibilidades de “trans-humano” atraves de melhoramentos biotecnologicos das capacidades humanas biologicas tais como, tempo de vida, tipo de personalidade e inteligencia, reprogramacao da mente humana, so lembrando alguns elementos. A genetica, a nanotecnologia, a clonagem, a criogenia, a cibernetica e as tecnologias de computador, a biogerontologia e medicina antienvelhecimento, sao parte de uma visao pos-humana, que inclui ate a ideia de formar uma mente computadorizada, livre da carne mortal, e portanto, imortalizada. Para os pos-humanistas a biologia, a natureza humana tal como a conhecemos hoje, nao e um destino, mas antes algo que deve ser superado e modificado. Tratar-se-ia de uma versao contemporânea de Prometeu, o tita grego que roubou o fogo sagrado dos deuses? Nao seria isto um mero cientificismo a ser combatido, que pretende re-engenheirar a natureza humana, e ate criar biologica e tecnologicamente seres humanos superiores? Para outros, todos estes esforcos, sao vistos como um progresso no desenvolvimento de forcas tecnologicas para o “melhoramento humano”. Trava-se uma batalha entre duas grandes visoes de militantes, os chamados “pos-humanistas” e os “bioconservadores”. Portanto estamos na gangorra entre ameacas e esperancas, ideologia e utopia. Necessitamos de referenciais eticos para discernir entre as transformacoes que sao salutares, e aquelas que sao destrutivas e que se precisa evitar. Abstract: One of the major challenges confronting Bio-ethics at the beginning of this century, as it was baptized as the “Century of Bio-technology” is the arrival of post-humanism or trans-humanism. We are beginning to consider quite seriously some possibilities of being “trans-human” from the point of view of bio-technical improvements of human biological capabilities such as the lifespan, types of personalities and intelligence, reprogramming of the human mind, just to mention some of its elements. Genetics, nano-technology, cloning, cybernetics as well as the technologies of the computer, bio-gerontology and the medicine against old age, all of these are new components of a post-human perspective which include the idea of forming a computerized mind, freed from mortal flesh and therefore immortalized. For the post-humanist`s, biology, human nature as we know it today is not destiny, but rather something that has to be overcome and modified. Could it be a contemporary version of the Promethean myth, the Greek titan who stole the sacred fire of the gods? Wouldn`t it be merely a degenerate scientific tendency which ought to be fought against because it pretends to apply engineering techniques to human nature, and envisages even more by trying to create superior human beings by means of biological techniques? On the other hand, to someone else all of these efforts are held as positive steps of progress in the development of technological means for “human improvement“. Thus we are facing a battle between to militant visions, the so called “post-humanists” , and the “bio-conservationists”. We are on the seesaw of threats and hopes, ideology and utopias. What we need are ethical signposts in order to discern between salutary transformations and destructive dangers which have to be avoided.