Transhumanist Nietzsche?

An Interpretation and Critique of Stefan Lorenz Sorgner’s Position

Abstract

Stefan Lorenz Sorgner has argued that Friedrich Nietzsche’s philosophy constitutes a type of transhumanism. While Sorgner’s interpretation is original, we deny that the transhumanist vision of the “posthuman” as a technologically enhanced human being accords with Nietzsche’s Overhuman. While the two share superficial similarities, they are nonetheless distinct, for Nietzsche did not believe in Enlightenment ideas such as liberalism, progress and scientism, all of which feature prominently within transhumanism. Furthermore, we shall argue that scientistic transhumanist ideas relating to human “enhancement” are too modern and progressive to be Nietzschean. More seriously, Nietzsche’s emphasis uponamor fati, a central feature of his thought, is all but ignored by transhumanists. According to the reading presented here, transhumanism constitutes an “all-too-human” position. While of interest as a system of thought, we reject Sorgner’s ahistorical claim that Nietzsche can be counted as a transhumanist. In our view, Nietzsche’s tragic hero is a singular individual who follows the call of Nature, but not a technologically enhanced posthuman.