For next class -- (Thu./Mon.)
Between now and November 5/6, when your biotech group project is due, we will be reading Part I of Our Posthuman Future by Francis Fukuyama. Please see the "Posthuman" web page for full resources. You can download the full text of the book below, if you do not have your own hardcopy of the book. Reminder: You may donate your copy of the book to the school for 10 points extra credit.
DOWNLOAD FULL BOOK: Our Posthuman Future (PDF)
Your first assignment is to read Chapters 1-2 (pages 4-40). You will have a "quiz" on this reading on Thurs.(A3)/Mon.(B1). The quiz will be in a different style/format than you are used to. In preparation for this unit, please read the following unit objectives:
UNIT OBJECTIVES
The guiding questions for this unit concern views of humanity and personhood. We will be evaluating the fiction we read in terms of 21st century real-world applications. The unit will culminate in a reading of Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.
Guiding questions for the unit:
- What is human dignity? What are human rights? What is personhood?
- What is human nature? Do we have a right to manipulate human nature?
- When does one begin to be and cease to be human?
- When does a person go beyond being human? Or is it even possible?
- What are the ramifications of today’s biotechnology revolution?
- What does literature have to say about today’s biotechnology revolution?
- What can we learn from literature to help us live in the 21st century?