Abstract

Transhumanism. An introduction to the idea of a self-directed evolution. This article outlines the anthropological premises and the founding principles of Transhumanism, considered as self-directed evolution. We are currently witnessing an unexpected, so clear as often unrecognized, resurgence of the centrality of Human being, who, thanks to the acceleration of scientific and technological progress, seems about to overtake evolution by natural selection and to attain a new type of evolution, driven by human intelligence. The gradual increase of the transformative capacity applied to the world and to ourselves is a process and a tendency typical of our species; however, what is changing today is that we are realizing that we are able to redefine our biological condition, and in doing so to direct our own evolution. This raising awarness is at the core of transhumanist thought.