Living Posthumanism

Catalog description

This course invites students to live Posthumanism, exploring how humans can meaningfully exist within a network of other humans, non-human life, technology, and the planet. It blends theory and practice, guiding learners to cultivate self-realization, relational awareness, and co-existence in the posthuman era. At the theoretical level, the course examines Posthumanism through three key lenses: post-humanism, post-anthropocentrism, and post-dualism. Post-humanism highlights the unity in diversity of humanity: we are many and one. Post-anthropocentrism situates humans within the Earth system, recognizing that we are part of the planet, not its rulers. Post-dualism reimagines technology-not as a threat nor a new deity-but as a medium for existential creativity (poiesis), enabling new ways of being and relating. These perspectives are explored experientially, through exercises, projects, and personalized practices designed to help students integrate these insights into their daily lives. Our course draws on a wide range of sources, from ancient traditions like Advaita Vedanta, Zen, and Native epistemologies, to contemporary frameworks such as Eastern and Western Existentialism, Deep Ecology, and the Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence. Students will engage with topics including AI consciousness, posthuman awareness, and contemporary mysticism. The course emphasizes that ethics and ontology are inseparable: how we live shapes who we are. Academically, students gain a nuanced understanding of the posthuman turn and the debates surrounding humanity, technology, and ecology. Personally, the course offers a journey of self-inquiry and embodied practice, allowing students to place their own lives at the heart of exploration-from ancient roots toward future horizons. Priority registration to EWP students.