Michael Hauskeller's Books

Better Humans?

Understanding the Enhancement Project

By: Michael Hauskeller

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Better Humans?

Understanding the Enhancement Project

By: Michael Hauskeller

Developments in medical science have afforded us the opportunity to improve and enhance the human species in ways unthinkable to previous generations. Whether it's making changes to mitochondrial DNA in a human egg, being prescribed Prozac, or having a facelift, our desire to live longer, feel better and look good has presented philosophers, medical practitioners and policy-makers with considerable ethical challenges. But what exactly constitutes human improvement? What do we mean when we talk of making "better" humans? In this book Michael Hauskeller explores these questions and the ideas of human good that underpin them. Posing some challenging questions about the nature of human enhancement, he interrogates the logic behind its processes and examines the justifications behind its criteria. Questioning common assumptions about what constitutes human improvement, Hauskeller asks whether the criteria proposed by its advocates are convincing. The book draws on recent research as well as popular representations of human enhancement from advertising to the internet, and provides a non-technical and accessible survey of the issues for readers and students interested in the ethics and politics of human enhancement.

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Page Count

168

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

1317547160

ISBN 13

9781317547167

The Meaning of Life and Death

Ten Classic Thinkers on the Ultimate Question

By: Michael Hauskeller

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The Meaning of Life and Death

Ten Classic Thinkers on the Ultimate Question

By: Michael Hauskeller

What is the point of living? If we are all going to die anyway, if nothing will remain of whatever we achieve in this life, why should we bother trying to achieve anything in the first place? Can we be mortal and still live a meaningful life? Questions such as these have been asked for a long time, but nobody has found a conclusive answer yet. The connection between death and meaning, however, has taken centre stage in the philosophical and literary work of some of the world's greatest writers: Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Leo Tolstoy, Soren Kierkegaard, Arthur Schopenhauer, Herman Melville, Friedrich Nietzsche, William James, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Marcel Proust, and Albert Camus. This book explores their ideas, weaving a rich tapestry of concepts, voices and images, helping the reader to understand the concerns at the heart of those writers' work and uncovering common themes and stark contrasts in their understanding of what kind of world we live in and what really matters in life.

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Page Count

257

Publisher

Bloomsbury Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1350073652

ISBN 13

9781350073654

Better Humans?

Understanding the Enhancement Project

By: Michael Hauskeller

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Better Humans?

Understanding the Enhancement Project

By: Michael Hauskeller

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223

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

1317547179

ISBN 13

9781317547174

Mythologies of Transhumanism

By: Michael Hauskeller

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Mythologies of Transhumanism

By: Michael Hauskeller

This book examines the dependence of transhumanist arguments on the credibility of the narratives of meaning in which they are embedded. By taking the key ideas from transhumanist philosophy – the desirability of human self-design and immortality, the elimination of all suffering and the expansion of human autonomy – Michael Hauskeller explores these narratives and the understanding of human nature that informs them. Particular attention is paid to the theory of transhumanism as a form of utopia, stories of human nature, the increasing integration of the radical human enhancement project into the cultural mainstream, and the drive to upgrade from flesh to machine.

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Page Count

231

Publisher

Springer

Published Date

ISBN 10

3319397419

ISBN 13

9783319397412

Biotechnology and the Integrity of Life

Taking Public Fears Seriously

By: Michael Hauskeller

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Biotechnology and the Integrity of Life

Taking Public Fears Seriously

By: Michael Hauskeller

There are things that can be done and are done to life on earth (whether it be human, animal or plant life) which, even if they do not involve or produce any suffering, are still considered morally wrong by a large proportion of the public. Such things include changing the nature of living beings by means of genetic engineering in order to enhance their health, or, more likely with animals and plants, their utility, or impairing their ability to live autonomously, or unduly instrumentalizing them. Yet many scientists are puzzled about the unwillingness of the public to feel much enthusiasm about a technology that, in their view, promises great benefits to humans and does not seem to cause more harm to animals than other practices which most of us do not question at all. In this book Michael Hauskeller takes public fears seriously and offers the idea of 'biological integrity' as a clarifying principle which can then be analyzed to show that seemingly irrational public concerns about genetic engineering are not so irrational after all and that a philosophically sound justification of those concerns can indeed be given.

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Page Count

175

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

1317174100

ISBN 13

9781317174103

Mythologies of Transhumanism

By: Michael Hauskeller

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Mythologies of Transhumanism

By: Michael Hauskeller

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231

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Springer

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ISBN 10

3319397419

ISBN 13

9783319397412

Unbelievable

7 Myths About the History and Future of Science and Religion

By: Michael Newton Keas

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Unbelievable

7 Myths About the History and Future of Science and Religion

By: Michael Newton Keas

Unbelievable explodes seven of the most popular and pernicious myths about science and religion. Michael Newton Keas, a historian of science, lays out the facts to show how far the conventional wisdom departs from reality. He also shows how these myths have proliferated over the past four centuries and exert so much influence today, infiltrating science textbooks and popular culture. The seven myths, Keas shows, amount to little more than religion bashing—especially Christianity bashing. Unbelievable reveals: · Why the “Dark Ages” never happened · Why we didn’t need Christopher Columbus to prove the earth was round · Why Copernicus would be shocked to learn that he supposedly demoted humans from the center of the universe · What everyone gets wrong about Galileo’s clash with the Church, and why it matters today · Why the vastness of the universe does not deal a blow to religious belief in human significance · How the popular account of Giordano Bruno as a “martyr for science” ignores the fact that he was executed for theological reasons, not scientific ones · How a new myth is being positioned to replace religion—a futuristic myth that sounds scientific but isn’t In debunking these myths, Keas shows that the real history is much more interesting than the common narrative of religion at war with science. This accessible and entertaining book offers an invaluable resource to students, scholars, teachers, homeschoolers, and religious believers tired of being portrayed as anti-intellectual and anti-science.

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Page Count

291

Publisher

Open Road Media

Published Date

ISBN 10

1504057724

ISBN 13

9781504057721

Synesthetic Design

Handbook for a Multi-Sensory Approach

By: Michael Haverkamp

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Synesthetic Design

Handbook for a Multi-Sensory Approach

By: Michael Haverkamp

Synesthetic design strives to develop products that systematically incorporate all five senses. In future, the current wealth of medical technical insights in psychology, physiology, motor functions, and neurology and the development of innovative materials with astonishing new properties will open up almost unlimited opportunities for the designer’s creativity. Haverkamp brings together for the first time precisely those aspects of this fundamental knowledge that are specifically relevant for designers. The result is a book that offers designers of all schools a clear and well-organized practical handbook and a solid foundation for their own designs.

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Page Count

472

Publisher

Walter de Gruyter

Published Date

ISBN 10

3034611684

ISBN 13

9783034611688

Christian Ethics of Creation

On the Path of Ecological Conversion

By: Michael Rosenberger

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Christian Ethics of Creation

On the Path of Ecological Conversion

By: Michael Rosenberger

Wenn die gewaltigen ökologischen Herausforderungen der Gegenwart bewältigt werden sollen, braucht es klare ethische Orientierungen und tiefe Quellen innerer Kraft. Der Autor reflektiert die Potenziale der christlichen Tradition für eine Ethik und Spiritualität der Schöpfung. Dafür greift er auf biblische und liturgische Impulse ebenso zurück wie auf die Enzyklika Laudato si von Papst Franziskus und setzt sie mit naturwissenschaftlichen, soziologischen und ökonomischen Überlegungen in Beziehung. Auf dieser Grundlage entwickelt es eine Handlungs- und Hoffnungsperspektive, die durch Schwierigkeiten und Enttäuschungen hindurch tragfähig ist.

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Page Count

316

Publisher

Nomos Verlag

Published Date

ISBN 10

3748934386

ISBN 13

9783748934387

Three Bio-realms

Biotechnology and the Governance of Food, Health, and Life in Canada

By: G. Bruce Doern,Michael J. Prince

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Three Bio-realms

Biotechnology and the Governance of Food, Health, and Life in Canada

By: G. Bruce Doern,Michael J. Prince

Biotechnology has become one of the most important issues in public policy and governance, altering the boundaries between the public and the private, the economic and the social, and further complicating the divide between what is scientifically possible and ethically preferred. Given the importance of biotechnology in shaping relations between the state, science, the economy, and the citizenry, a book that explores the Canadian biotechnology regime and its place in our democracy is timelier than ever. Three Bio-Realms provides the first integrated examination of the thirty-year story of the democratic governance of biotechnology in Canada. G. Bruce Doern and Michael J. Prince, two recognized specialists in governance innovation and social policy, look at particular 'network-based' factors that seek to promote and to regulate biotechnology inside the state as well as at broader levels. Unmatched by any other book in its historical scope and range, Three Bio-Realms is sure to be read for years to come.

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Page Count

281

Publisher

University of Toronto Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1442611545

ISBN 13

9781442611542

Jewish Bioethics

Rabbinic Law and Theology in their Social and Historical Contexts

By: Yechiel Michael Barilan

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Jewish Bioethics

Rabbinic Law and Theology in their Social and Historical Contexts

By: Yechiel Michael Barilan

Presents the discourse in Jewish law and rabbinic literature on bioethical issues, highlighting practical problems in their socio-historical contexts.

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297

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1107024668

ISBN 13

9781107024663

The Interruption That We Are

The Health of the Lived Body, Narrative, and Public Moral Argument

By: Michael J. Hyde

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The Interruption That We Are

The Health of the Lived Body, Narrative, and Public Moral Argument

By: Michael J. Hyde

In a world of ever-increasing medical technology, a study of the need for wisdom, truth, and public moral argument In this provocative and interdisciplinary work, Michael J. Hyde develops a philosophy of communication ethics in which the practice of rhetoric plays a fundamental role in promoting and maintaining the health of our personal and communal existence. He examines how the force of interruption—the universal human capacity to challenge our complacent understanding of existence—is a catalyst for moral reflection and moral behavior. Hyde begins by reviewing the role of interruption in the history of the West, from the Big Bang to biblical figures to classical Greek and contemporary philosophers and rhetoricians to three modern thinkers: Søren Kierkegaard, Martin Heidegger, and Emmanuel Levinas. These thinkers demonstrate in various ways that interruption is not simply a heuristic tool, but constitutive of being human. After developing a critical assessment of these thinkers, Hyde offers four case studies in public moral argument that illustrate the applicability of his findings regarding our interruptive nature. These studies feature a patient suffering from heart disease, a disability rights activist defending her personhood, a young woman dying from brain cancer who must justify her decision, against staunch opposition, to opt for medical aid in dying, and the benefits and burdens of what is termed our "posthuman future" with its accelerating achievements in medical science and technology. These improvements are changing the nature of the interruption that we are, yet the wisdom of such progress has yet to be determined. Much more public moral argument is required. Hyde's philosophy of communication ethics not only calls for the cultivation of wisdom but also promotes the fight for truth, which is essential to the livelihood of democracy.

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Page Count

249

Publisher

Univ of South Carolina Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1611177081

ISBN 13

9781611177084

Human Rights in Graphic Life Narrative

Reading and Witnessing Violations of the 'Other' in Anglophone Works

By: Olga Michael

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Human Rights in Graphic Life Narrative

Reading and Witnessing Violations of the 'Other' in Anglophone Works

By: Olga Michael

Surveying print and digital graphic life narratives about people who become 'othered' within Western contexts, this book investigates how comics and graphic novels witness human rights transgressions in contemporary Anglophone culture and how they can promote social justice. With thought given to how the graphic form can offer a powerful counterpoint to the legal, humanitarian and media discourses that dehumanise the most violated and dispossessed, but also how these works may unconsciously reproduce Western neo-colonial presentations of the 'other,' Olga Michael focuses on gender, death, space, and border violence within graphic life narratives depicting suffering across different geo- and biopolitical locations. Combining the familiar with the lesser-known, this book covers works by artists such as Joe Sacco, Thi Bui, Mia Kirshner, Phoebe Gloeckner, Kamel Khélif, Francesca Sanna, Gabi Froden, Benjamin Dix and Lindsay Pollock, as well as Safdar Ahmed and Ali Dorani/Eaten Fish. Interdisciplinary in its consideration of life writing, comics and human rights studies, and comparative in approach, this book explores such topics as the aesthetics of visualised suffering; spatial articulations of human rights violations; the occurrence of violations whilst crossing borders; the gendered dimensions of visually captured violence; and how human rights discourses intersect with graphic depictions of the dead. In so doing, Michael establishes how to read human rights and social justice comics in relation to an escalating global crisis and deftly complicates negotiations of 'otherness.' A vitally important work to the humanities sector, this book underscores the significance of postcolonial decolonized reading acts as forms of secondary witness.

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Page Count

273

Publisher

Bloomsbury Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1350329762

ISBN 13

9781350329768

Environmental Sustainability and American Public Administration

Past, Present, and Future

By: J. Michael Martinez

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Environmental Sustainability and American Public Administration

Past, Present, and Future

By: J. Michael Martinez

Protecting the natural environment and promoting environmental sustainability have become important objectives for U.S. policymakers and public administrators at the dawn of the twenty-first century. Institutions of American government, especially at the federal level, and the public administrators who work inside of those institutions, play a crucial role in developing and implementing environmental sustainability policies. This book explores these salient issues logically. First, it explores fundamental concepts such as what it means to be environmentally sustainable, how economic issues affect environmental policy, and the philosophical schools of thought about what policies ought to be considered sustainable. From there, it focuses on processes and institutions affecting public administration and its role in the policy process. Accordingly, it summarizes the rise of the administrative state in the United States and then reviews the development of federal environmental laws and policies with an emphasis on late twentieth century developments. This book also discusses the evolution of American environmentalism by outlining the history of the environmental movement and the growth of the environmental lobby. Finally, this book synthesizes the information to discuss how public administration can promote environmental sustainability.

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Page Count

357

Publisher

Lexington Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

1498509673

ISBN 13

9781498509671

Lords of Chaos

The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground New Edition

By: Michael Moynihan,Didrik Soderlind

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Lords of Chaos

The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground New Edition

By: Michael Moynihan,Didrik Soderlind

“* * * * * *! The most incredible story in the history of music … a heavyweight book.”—Kerrang! “An unusual combination of true crime journalism, rock and roll reporting and underground obsessiveness, Lords of Chaos turns into one of the more fascinating reads in a long time.”—Denver Post A narrative feature film based on this award-winning book has just gone into production.

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