Editing Transhumanism (section)

===Precursors of transhumanism===
According to [[Nick Bostrom]], [[Self-transcendence|transcendentalist]] impulses have been expressed at least as far back as the quest for [[immortality]] in the ''[[Epic of Gilgamesh]]'', as well as in historical quests for the [[Fountain of Youth]], the [[Elixir of Life]], and other efforts to stave off aging and death.<ref name="Bostrom 2005"/>

Transhumanists draw upon and claim continuity from intellectual and cultural traditions such as the ancient philosophy of [[Aristotle]] or the scientific tradition of [[Roger Bacon]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Porter |first1=Allen |title=Bioethics and Transhumanism |url=https://academic.oup.com/jmp/article/42/3/237/3817401 |journal=The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy: A Forum for Bioethics and Philosophy of Medicine |access-date=30 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171207175306/https://academic.oup.com/jmp/article/42/3/237/3817401 |archive-date=2017-12-07 |pages=237{{ndash}}260 |language=en |doi=10.1093/jmp/jhx001 |date=1 June 2017 |url-status=live |volume=42 |number=3|pmid=28499043 |doi-access=free |url-access=subscription }}</ref> In his ''[[Divine Comedy]]'', [[Dante Alighieri|Dante]] coined the word ''trasumanar'' meaning "to transcend human nature, to pass beyond human nature" in the first [[canto]] of [[Paradiso (Dante)|Paradiso]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Life Expansion|first1=Natasha|last1=Vita-More|author-link=Natasha Vita-More|publisher=University of Plymouth|date=2012|pages=74–75}} See also {{Cite journal|last1=Harrison|first1=Peter|last2=Wolyniak|first2=Joseph|title=The History of 'Transhumanism'|url=https://www.academia.edu/13997038|journal=Notes and Queries|year=2015|volume=62|issue=3|pages=465–467|doi=10.1093/notesj/gjv080|issn=0029-3970|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Trasumanar (neologism)|url=http://danteworlds.laits.utexas.edu/textpopup/par0101.html|access-date=2021-08-24|website=danteworlds.laits.utexas.edu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Paradiso 1 – Digital Dante|url=https://digitaldante.columbia.edu/dante/divine-comedy/paradiso/paradiso-1/|access-date=2021-08-24|website=digitaldante.columbia.edu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=BioEdge: Was Dante a transhumanist?|url=https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/was_dante_a_transhumanist/9468|access-date=2021-08-24|website=BioEdge|archive-date=August 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210824074524/https://www.bioedge.org/bioethics/was_dante_a_transhumanist/9468}}</ref>

The interweaving of transhumanist aspirations with the scientific imagination can be seen in the works of some precursors of [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] such as [[Francis Bacon]].<ref name="Bainbridge 2011 p. 582">{{cite book | last=Bainbridge | first=W.S. | title=Leadership in Science and Technology: A Reference Handbook | publisher=SAGE Publications | year=2011 | isbn=978-1-4522-6652-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oAFzAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA582 | access-date=2023-05-03 | page=582}}</ref><ref name="Manzocco 2019 p. 2">{{cite book | last=Manzocco | first=R. | title=Transhumanism - Engineering the Human Condition: History, Philosophy and Current Status | publisher=Springer International Publishing | series=Springer Praxis Books | year=2019 | isbn=978-3-030-04958-4 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=16qMDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA2 | access-date=2023-05-03 | page=2}}</ref> One of the early precursors to transhumanist ideas is [[René Descartes]]'s ''[[Discourse on Method]]'' (1637), in which Descartes envisions a new kind of medicine that can grant both physical immortality and stronger minds.<ref>Renée Mirkes. Transhumanist Medicine: Can We Direct Its Power to the Service of Human Dignity? The Linacre Quarterly, March 29, 2019</ref>

In his first edition of ''[[Enquiry Concerning Political Justice|Political Justice]]'' (1793), [[William Godwin]] included arguments favoring the possibility of "earthly [[immortality]]" (what would now be called [[physical immortality]]). Godwin explored the themes of [[life extension]] and immortality in his [[Gothic fiction|gothic novel]] [[St. Leon (novel)|''St.&nbsp;Leon'']], which became popular (and notorious) at the time of its publication in 1799, but is now mostly forgotten. ''St.&nbsp;Leon'' may have inspired his daughter [[Mary Shelley]]'s novel ''[[Frankenstein]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Godwin, William (1756–1836) – Introduction |work=Gothic Literature |publisher=enotes.com |year=2008 |url=http://www.enotes.com/gothic-literature/godwin-william |access-date=9 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080828113812/http://www.enotes.com/gothic-literature/godwin-william |archive-date=28 August 2008 }}</ref>

[[Ether Day]], marking a significant milestone in human history, celebrated its 175th anniversary on October 16, 2021. It was on this day that dentist [[William T. G. Morton]] achieved a groundbreaking feat by administering the first public [[ether]] [[anesthesia]] in Boston. This breakthrough not only allowed for the alleviation of pain with a reasonable level of risk but also helped protect people from [[psychological trauma]] by inducing [[wiktionary:inconscience|unconsciousness]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lewandowski |first1=K. |last2=Kretschmer |first2=B. |last3=Schmidt |first3=K. W. |date=2021 |title=175 Jahre Anästhesie und Narkose – Auf dem Weg zu einem "Menschenrecht auf Ohnmacht" |journal=Der Anaesthesist |volume=70 |issue=10 |pages=811–831 |doi=10.1007/s00101-021-01043-1 |issn=0003-2417 |pmc=8444521 |pmid=34529093}}</ref>

There is debate about whether the [[philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche]] can be considered an influence on transhumanism, despite its exaltation of the ''[[Übermensch]]'' (overhuman), due to its emphasis on [[self-actualization]] rather than technological transformation.<ref name="Bostrom 2005"/><ref name="Sorgner 2009"/><ref name="Blackford 2010"/><ref name="Sorgner 2012"/> The transhumanist philosophies of More and Sorgner have been influenced strongly by Nietzschean thinking.<ref name="Sorgner 2009"/> By contrast, ''The Transhumanist Declaration'' "advocates the well-being of all sentience (whether in artificial intellects, humans, posthumans, or non-human animals)".<ref name="Declaration">{{Cite web |title=The Transhumanist Declaration |url= https://itp.uni-frankfurt.de/~gros/Mind2010/transhumanDeclaration.pdf |access-date=24 May 2023}}</ref>

The late 19th- to early 20th-century movement known as [[Russian cosmism]], by Russian philosopher [[Nikolai Fyodorovich Fyodorov|N. F. Fyodorov]], is noted for anticipating transhumanist ideas.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sovieteramuseum.com/?product=art-works-by-russian-cosmism-painter-xx-xxi-ct-catalogue-of-exhibition-2013|title=Art works by Russian cosmism painter XX – XXI ct. Catalogue of exhibition 2013 {{!}} Soviet Era Museum|website=sovieteramuseum.com|date=February 18, 2016 |language=en-US|access-date=2018-06-24}}</ref> In 1966, [[FM-2030]] (formerly F. M. Esfandiary), a [[futurist]] who taught "new concepts of the human" at [[The New School]], in [[New York City]], began to identify people who adopt technologies, lifestyles and worldviews transitional to [[posthumanity]] as "[[transhuman]]".<ref name="FM-2030 1989"/>