The problem of human improvement in modern society: Man and machine

Abstract

The aim of the study is to find an approach to solving the problem of human improvement through the understanding of human-machine interaction. The paper deals with the issue of human improvement and discusses the ethical side of the change in human physicality in connection with the development of convergent technologies. A philosophical analysis of Gregory of Nyssa’s teachings about the structure of man is carried out. The content of Leonardo da Vinci’s anatomical drawings is analysed and R. Descartes’ opinion on comparing the human body with an automaton is given. J. O. de La Mettrie’s and D. Hume’s views on the nature of man and the human body as a complex machine are presented in detail. The information about the evolutionary transformations of the human body is discussed in the light of Ch. Darwin’s notions, Nemesius of Emesa’s and I. I. Mechnikov’s ideas about the health and beauty of the human body. The study is novel in that it is the first to outline the theoretical prospects for the improvement of modern man in the future. It is shown that the transformation of the human body is a natural and inevitable phenomenon in modern society, following the introduction of artificial implants into human tissues. In this regard, the author makes a prediction about the artificial division of natural Homo sapiens into three more groups: the implant man, the cyborg (cybernetic organism) and the hybrid man, that is, a genetically modified type of man. Such a division of the human population, according to the author, will ultimately lead to the transformation of society and the creation of a new integrated socio-cultural environment. It is hoped that the man of the future will preserve the connections between the brain, consciousness and the body to prevent him from turning into a machine. In this regard, ethical principles for the preservation of his natural appearance and nature have been developed.