Editing David Pearce (philosopher) (section)

{{Short description|British transhumanist}}
{{use British English|date=May 2015}}
{{use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = David Pearce
| image              = David Pearce (transhumanist).jpg
| caption            = Pearce in 2013
| birth_date         = {{Birth year and age|1959|04}}
| birth_place        = 
| alma_mater         = [[Brasenose College, Oxford]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/alumni/notable-alumni|title=Notable Alumni - Brasenose College, Oxford|website=Brasenose College, Oxford|access-date=2019-10-22}}</ref>
| organisation       = [[Humanity+]]
| known_for          = ''The Hedonistic Imperative'' (1995)
| movement           = [[Transhumanism]], [[veganism]]
| website            = {{URL|https://www.hedweb.com}}
}}
'''David Pearce''' (born April 1959)<ref>{{Cite web|title=David PEARCE|url=https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/officers/J3yv3O9mp9ERK5Ovmfb296NQVHc/appointments|url-status=live|access-date=2021-08-15|website=Companies House|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210729144537/https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/officers/J3yv3O9mp9ERK5Ovmfb296NQVHc/appointments |archive-date=29 July 2021 }}</ref> is a British [[Transhumanism|transhumanist]] philosopher.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Keulartz |first1=Jozef |title=Should the Lion Eat Straw Like the Ox? Animal Ethics and the Predation Problem |journal=Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics |year=2016 |volume=29 |issue=5 |pages=813–834 |publisher=SpringerLink|doi=10.1007/s10806-016-9637-4 |s2cid=5918938 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2016JAEE...29..813K |hdl=2066/161423 |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Schneider |first1=Susan |title=Future Minds: Transhumanism, Cognitive Enhancement and the Nature of Persons |url=https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1037&context=neuroethics_pubs |access-date=29 September 2022 |website=Penn Libraries |publisher=University of Pennsylvania}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dobrodum |first1=Olga |last2=Kyvliuk |first2=Olga |date=2021-01-29 |title=Transhumanism and Posthumanism: Reflection of the Human Civilization Future |url=http://ispcjournal.org/journals/2021/01/PhC_26_DobrodumKyvliuk.pdf |journal=Philosophy and Cosmology |volume=26 |pages=77–89 |doi=10.29202/phil-cosm/26/6 |s2cid=234292838 |access-date=29 September 2022}}</ref> He is the co-founder of the World Transhumanist Association, currently rebranded and incorporated as [[Humanity+]].<ref name=Bostrom2005pp15-16>{{cite journal| last=Bostrom | first=Nick | author-link = Nick Bostrom |title = A history of transhumanist thought|journal = [[Journal of Evolution and Technology]] |date = April 2005 | volume=14| issue=1| url = http://www.nickbostrom.com/papers/history.pdf|at=15–16}}</ref><ref>Brey, Philip; Søraker, Johnny Hartz (2009). "Philosophy of Computing and Information Technology", in Anthonie Meijers (ed.). ''Philosophy of Technology and Engineering Sciences''. Elsevier, [https://books.google.com/books?id=prvCTW4V7jEC&pg=PA1389 1389].</ref> Pearce approaches ethical issues from a [[Negative utilitarianism|negative utilitarian]] perspective.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.utilitarianism.com/nu/nufaq.html|title=Negative Utilitarianism FAQ|website=www.utilitarianism.com|access-date=2019-09-14}}</ref>

Based in [[Brighton]], England, Pearce maintains a series of websites devoted to transhumanist topics and what he calls the "hedonistic imperative", a moral obligation to work towards the [[eradication of suffering|abolition of suffering]] in all [[Sentience|sentient]] life.<ref name="philosophy now"/><ref>Hauskeller, Michael (January 2010). [http://jetpress.org/v21/hauskeller.htm "Nietzsche, the Overhuman and the Posthuman: A Reply to Stefan Sorgner"]. ''Journal of Evolution and Technology''. 21(1), 5–8.</ref> His self-published internet manifesto, ''The Hedonistic Imperative'' (1995), outlines how [[pharmacology]], [[genetic engineering]], [[nanotechnology]] and [[neurosurgery]] could [[technological convergence|converge]] to eliminate all forms of unpleasant experience from human and non-human life, replacing suffering with "information-sensitive gradients of bliss".<ref name=Bostrom2005p15>[http://www.nickbostrom.com/papers/history.pdf Bostrom (2005)], 15.</ref><ref>Pearce, David (2012). "The Biointelligence Explosion", in Amnon H. Eden, et al. (eds.). ''Singularity Hypotheses: A Scientific and Philosophical Assessment''. Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 199–236.</ref> Pearce calls this the "abolitionist project".<ref name=Thweatt-Bates2016pp50-51/>