The Anthropomorphic Qualities of Technology in the Postmodern and Post-Postmodern Culture

Abstract

The issue of human beings' interaction with technology has acquired a special topicality. There has emerged a philosophy of technology aimed at researching the anthropological social dimension. The anthropological approach towards understanding technology is based on the human being himself determining his own existence and creating objective reality, while being a subject. The author of the article examines two trends within the anthropological approach: the solution of the problem of human beings' connection with technology in the philosophy of postmodernism and within the conception of transhumanism. In the transhuman conception, the "anthropomorphic qualities of technology" presented a worldview principle of mastery of the technocratic principle in postmodern and post-postmodern eras (the culture of the future). The "anthropomorphic qualities of technology" signifies the character of technologies preserving the algorithm of human behavior and not transforming the human being into a subservient entity in regards to technology. The presented critique of transhumanism makes it possible to disclose its anti-humane character. The present conception, which shows a predominance of the technical-technological side of human development, presents a threat to humanity in the post-postmodern era. By expounding these two trends, it is demonstrated that on the threshold of the advent of the post-postmodern era it becomes necessary to perceive the phenomenon of technical reality on the basis of an anthropological approach.