»Stefan Lorenz Sorgner has the makings of becoming Peter Sloterdijk’s evolutionary successor.«
Steve Fuller, University of Warwick
»In Stefan Lorenz Sorgner’s work, the profound originality is accompanied by a vast knowledge of the philosophical tradition. His exploration of the philosophical meanings of post-humanism has become a point of reference that contemporary culture cannot ignore.«
Gianni Vattimo, University of Turin
»Stefan Lorenz Sorgner counts as one of the worldwide leading experts on trans- and posthumanism.«
Wolfgang Welsch, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena
»Stefan Lorenz Sorgner, Germany's leading post- and transhumanist philosopher«
Rainer Zimmermann, University of Applied Sciences Düsseldorf
On „We have always been Cyborgs” (2022)
“An eye-opening, wide-ranging and all-inclusive study of transhumanism. Sorgner’s account avoids both the utopian trap and the bogeyman spectre. He makes a compelling case for placing ourselves on the transhuman spectrum. How we continue to use technologies is in our hands. Sorgner’s book is both a comprehensive introduction to transhumanist thought and a clear-sighted vision for its future realisation.”
Julian Savulescu, University of Oxford
"With an encyclopaedic knowledge of transhumanism and a deep philosophical grounding, especially in Nietzschean thought, Stefan Sorgner tackles some of the most challenging ethical issues currently discussed, including gene editing, digital data collection, and life extension, with uncommon good sense and incisive conclusions. This study is one of the most detailed and comprehensive analyses available today. Highly recommended for anyone interested in transhumanist/posthumanist ideas and in these issues generally."
N. Katherine Hayles, University of California, Los Angeles
On „Philosophy of Posthuman Art” (2022)
“A deeply considered survey of the posthuman future of art. Sorgner’s philosophy of posthumanism provides a path away from the dominant 20th-century aesthetics that still inform our conception of art today. Through the innovative concept of the ‘twist,’ Sorgner’s encyclopedic text frames posthumanism as the foundation of an anti-totalitarian future of art.”
Eduardo Kac
“Philosophy of Posthuman Art impressively examines the aesthetics of the monstrous, of hybridity, of smoothness and of the amorphous, to name a few. It is an articulate and informed analysis not only of particular artworks but also their philosophical underpinnings of Critical Posthumanism, Transhumanism and Metahumanism. It not only includes examples of bioart, body art, performance art and cryptoart, but also techno, digital and cyborg music. It is a time when we transition from the ontology of Being to the ontology of Becoming. We are now in a liminal age of the hybrid and the chimera. And as Stefan Lorenz Sorgner reminds us, with a twist, we have always been cyborgs.”
Stelarc
"the bad boy of philosophy"
(Max Rauner, SWR 2).
(Max Rauner, SWR 2).
Curriculum Vitae
Prof. Dr. Stefan Lorenz Sorgner teaches philosophy at John Cabot University in Rome, whereby he particularly promotes the emerging field of posthuman studies. He is also Director and Co-founder of the Beyond Humanism Network, Fellow at the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies (IEET), Research Fellow at the Ewha Institute for the Humanities at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, and Visting Fellow at the Ethics Centre of the Friedrich-Schiller-University in Jena, where he was also Visiting Prof. during the summer of 2016. He studied philosophy at King's College/University of London (BA), the University of Durham (MA by thesis; examiners: David E. Cooper, Durham ; David Owen, Southampton), the University of Giessen and the University of Jena (Dr. phil.; examiners: Wolfgang Welsch, Jena; Gianni Vattimo, Turin). In recent years, he taught at the Universities of Jena (Germany), Erfurt (Germany), Klagenfurt (Austria) Ewha Womans University in Seoul (South Korea) and Erlangen-Nürnberg (Germany). His main fields of research are Nietzsche, the philosophy of music, bioethics and meta-, post- and transhumanism.
Central elements of his philosophy have been summarized in an interview which was published at the 7th of May 2013 in the weekly German newspaper "Die Zeit" which has a print run of 520000 copies and about 2 million readers per issue:
http://www.zeit.de/2013/20/transhumanismus-philosoph-stefan-lorenz-sorgner
In English, an interview which was published in the journal FlfF-Kommunikation 2/2016 provides an introduction to contemporary debates in transhumanism. Herein, the "editors interviewed three heavyweights of the transhumanism scene: James J. Hughes from the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies in Boston, the 2016 US Presidential candidate of the Transhumanist Party, Zoltan Istvan, and the philosopher Stefan L. Sorgner from John Cabot University in Rome" (FlfF-Kommunikation 2/2016, 19):
http://www.fiff.de/publikationen/fiff-kommunikation/fk-2016/fk-2016-2/fk-2016-2-content/fk-2-16-p19.pdf
At the 27th of September 2013, Sorgner presented some of his ideas on genetic alteration in his first TEDx talk in the Villa Farnesina in Rome (see below). At the 19th of October 2015, he explained his views on perfection at his second TEDx talk which took place in Stuttgart (see below).
His philosophical refelctions have been critically examined both in the English as well as in the German speaking world, e.g. „Understanding Nietzscheanism“ by Ashley Woodward (Acumen, 2011) or "Umwertung der Menschenwürde - Kontroversen mit und nach Nietzsche" edited by Beatrix Vogel (Alber Verlag, 2014):
http://www.verlag-alber.de/vorschau/details_html?k_tnr=48655&k_onl_struktur=1419357
The following exchange of artiles on the relationship between Nietzsche and trans-, meta- and posthumanism provides a good survey concerning Sorgner's philosophical attempt to think beyond humanism:
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/pellissier20120423
In an one hour live interview on German public radio (WDR 5), further aspects of his philosophical approach have been presented:
http://transhumanus.tumblr.com/post/97210364290/wdr-das-philosophische-radio-transhumanisten-wie
Another such interview was conducted on the 6th of January 2017 on WDR5:
http://podcast-ww.wdr.de/medp/fsk0/128/1284840/wdr5dasphilosophischeradio_2017-01-06_bessertranshumanismus_wdr5.mp3
Twelve central pillars of his philosophical thinking have been highlighted in a public talk of his which can be watched on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4qJDpr1SSI
In October/November 2014, Sorgner was invited plenary speaker at the 3. World Humanities Forum which was jointly organized by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and Daejeon Metropolitan City. Further down, you find two photos from this event.
In February 2015, central moral challenges concerning Nietzsche, transhumanism and Sorgner's own position were presented in a public talk at the University of Nijmegen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCyr_OAURXM
At the 5th of August 2015, he was invited to present a wider picture concerning options for “Shaping the Future” from a posthuman perspective at the ICIST-KAIST conference in Daejeon. It is part of the largest Asian annual student-run conference series:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_ajT2-1QtE
At the 4th of March, an interview with him was broadcasted on German public television (ZDFinfo) - from minute 3 onwards:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQPclJ-pZw0&feature=youtu.be
The discussion concerning the relationship between Nietzsche and transhumanism which circles around some of my reflections has recently been published in the essay collection "Nietzsche and Transhumanism" which was edited by Yunus Tuncel. Contributions were written by Max More, Paul Loeb, Bill Hibbaru, Michael Hauskeller, Rebecca Bamford, Babette Babich, Keith Ansell-Pearson, Ashley Woodward, Yunus Tuncel, Michael Steinmann.
www.cambridgescholars.com/nietzsche-and-transhumanism
Here you can access the contents:
http://www.cambridgescholars.com/download/sample/63866
In March 2018, he was invited as a keynote speaker at the 2018 Global Solutions Taipei Workshop. The Global Solutions (GS) Taipei Workshop 2018 with “Shaping the Future of an Inclusive Digital Society” as its overarching theme took at the Ambassador Hotel on March 28, 2018 in Taipei. It was co-organized by Chung-Hua Institute for Economic Research (CIER) and the Kiel Institute for the World Economy:
www.global-economic-symposium.org/conferences-2018/gobal-solutions-taipei-workshop
The March 2019 edition of the Cicero Kulturmagazin, the German equivalent of The Atlantic, published a detailed interview entitled “Der Übermensch ist unsere Hoffnung” (“The Overhuman is our Hope”). Well-known journalist Alexander Kissler interviewed the new realist Markus Gabriel, a bestselling author, and philosophy professor at the University of Bonn, and JCU philosophy professor Stefan Lorenz Sorgner about topics of his new monograph, entitled Übermensch. Ein Plädoyer für einen Nietzscheanischen Transhumanismus (“Overhuman. A Plea for a Nietzschean Transhumanism”), as well as many other topics which are of current relevance. The interview reveals the enormous tension between these two philosophical approaches. The journal has a readership of over 550,000.
On the 20th October 2019, he was invited to discuss the “Transhuman” at the Art Biennale Venice (unknown location in Venice, in a bunker). This Clandestine talk took place as part of the project Thinking Head by Lara Favaretto (Participants: Kathleen Bryson, Rebecca Levene, Volker Sommer, Stefan Lorenz Sorgner). Here, you can listen to the discussion:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=unlEAo3U6v0
In issue 4 of the "Immortalists Magazine" (April/May 2020), he was featured on the cover. In the magazine, you find a detailed interview, in which he explains his reflections concerning his transhumanist take on the impact of the coronavirus crisis:
https://www.flipsnack.com/BDEAACF6AED/im-apr-may-2020/full-view.html
Vol. 1, 1, December 2021 of the journal "Deliberatio" is a specail issue, which is dedicated to his book "On Transhumanism:
https://deliberatio.uvt.ro/current-issue/
March 2022, International Symposium on Sorgner's "We have always been Cyborgs":
https://calendar.johncabot.edu/event/symposium-on-sorgners-we-have-always-been-cyborgs
Special Issue of the journal “Ethics and Politics” (2023) XXV/1 [23] with a Symposium on “We have always been cyborgs” has been published in Spring of 2023:
www.openstarts.units.it/handle/10077/34661
Projects
Critical Posthumanism and Transhumanism, Lille, 2019
The Work of Art in Post-Human Times, Rome, 2018
Cultures of the Posthuman, Wrozlaw, 2018
Posthuman Studies, Rome, July 2017
Posthuman Studies and Technologies of Control: From Nietzsche to Trans-, Post- and Metahumanism, Madrid, May 2016
From Humanism to Post- and Transhumanism?, Seoul, September 2015
Posthuman Politics, Mytilini, Lesbos, September 2014
The Posthuman: Differences, Embodiments, Performativity, Rome, September 2013
Enhancement, Emerging Technologies, and Social Challenges, Dubrovnik, September 2012
Human Enhancement, Paris, July 2012
Transforming Human Nature, Dublin, October 2011
Wagner und das Motiv der Suche, Graupa, June 2011
Audiovisual Posthumanism, Mytilini, Lesbos , September 2010
Humanism and Posthumanism, Belgrade, April 2009
Wagner and Nietzsche, Jena , July 2008
Eugenics and the Future, Jena , July 2004
Humanbiotechnology as Social Challenge, Wartburg, Eisenach , May 2004
The Work of Art in Post-Human Times, Rome, 2018
Cultures of the Posthuman, Wrozlaw, 2018
Posthuman Studies, Rome, July 2017
Posthuman Studies and Technologies of Control: From Nietzsche to Trans-, Post- and Metahumanism, Madrid, May 2016
From Humanism to Post- and Transhumanism?, Seoul, September 2015
Posthuman Politics, Mytilini, Lesbos, September 2014
The Posthuman: Differences, Embodiments, Performativity, Rome, September 2013
Enhancement, Emerging Technologies, and Social Challenges, Dubrovnik, September 2012
Human Enhancement, Paris, July 2012
Transforming Human Nature, Dublin, October 2011
Wagner und das Motiv der Suche, Graupa, June 2011
Audiovisual Posthumanism, Mytilini, Lesbos , September 2010
Humanism and Posthumanism, Belgrade, April 2009
Wagner and Nietzsche, Jena , July 2008
Eugenics and the Future, Jena , July 2004
Humanbiotechnology as Social Challenge, Wartburg, Eisenach , May 2004
Languages
German: Native language
English: Fluent (spoken as well as written)
Latin: Latinum
Ancient Greek: Graecum
Italian: Advanced knowledge
Russian: Beginner
English: Fluent (spoken as well as written)
Latin: Latinum
Ancient Greek: Graecum
Italian: Advanced knowledge
Russian: Beginner
Affiliation
Since 12/2011: Fellow at the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies
Since 01/2012: Associate Member at the Centre for the Study of Bioethics at the Inst. for Social and Political Philosophy of the University of Belgrade
Since 01/2015: Research Fellow at the Ewha Institute for the Humanities at Ewha Womans University in Seoul
Since 07/2016: Visiting Fellow at the Ethics Centre of the Friedrich-Schiller-University in Jena
Since 4/2023 Academic Advisor of Humanity+
3/2022
Honors
07/2010: As president of the Olympic Center for Philosophy and Culture, Prof. emer. Leonidas K. Bargeliotes from the University of Athens awarded me a honorary commendation for my continuous contribution to the study and exercise of philosophical though (25th of July 2010). (see below)
09/2014: The chairman of the Society of Convergence Knowledge, Jin Tak Choi, entrusts me to contribute to their society: Letter of Entrustment; Term for Commission 1.10.2014-3.9.2016.
04/2016-09/2016: Visiting Professor at the Ethics Centre of the Friedrich-Schiller-University in Jena
09/2016 The interview with me entitled “Hirnschrittmacher für alle” which was published in Die Zeit in 2014 was included in the general, standardized, nationwide Austrian high school exam for the subject “German” on the 19th of September 2016.
11/2016 Nominee at World Technology Awards 2016, Category: Ethics.
01/2017 The chairman of the Society of Convergence Knowledge, Sung-Uk Choi, entrusts me to contribute to their society: Letter of Entrustment; Term for Commission 1.1.2017-31.12.2018.
5/2017 Diploma de Onoare from the Rector of Universitate de Vest, "Vasile Goldis" d'in Arad (by Prof. Dr. C. A. Cotoraci).
05/2017 Invited Visiting Professor at the University of Lower Silesia in Wrozlaw (by Prof. J. Stasienko).
08/2018 Invited Jury Member of the Austrian Governmental Award Patent 2018 (Together with the CEO of KTM Stefan Pierer, general director of IBM Austria Patricia Neumann, the rector of the Technical University Vienna Sabine Seidler, Senior Vice President Innovation & Technology of Borealis Maurits van Tol, and Business Angel Michael Altrichter).
4/2021 Three Articles of his were included in the “Posthuman Studies Reader”, edited by Sampanikou and Stasienko (Schwabe 2021).
5/2021 Institute of Social and Political Research – ICSP – of West University, Timisoara, hosted an international symposium entitled “LIVING THE POSTHUMAN PARADIGM-SHIFT? A SYMPOSIUM ON SORGNER’S “ON TRANSHUMANISM”” on the 27th of May 2021.
12/2021 Special Issue of the journal “Deliberatio” on my monograph “On Transhumanism” with nine articles by scholars from Oxford, Madrid, Turin Utrecht, Cape Town et al, incl. my response, edited by Aura Schussler and Florin Lobont
3/2022 International Symposium on Sorgner's "We have always been cyborgs", organized by JCU's Guarini Institute for Public Affairs (in cooperation with the History and Humanities Department)
Honors
07/2010: As president of the Olympic Center for Philosophy and Culture, Prof. emer. Leonidas K. Bargeliotes from the University of Athens awarded me a honorary commendation for my continuous contribution to the study and exercise of philosophical though (25th of July 2010). (see below)
09/2014: The chairman of the Society of Convergence Knowledge, Jin Tak Choi, entrusts me to contribute to their society: Letter of Entrustment; Term for Commission 1.10.2014-3.9.2016.
04/2016-09/2016: Visiting Professor at the Ethics Centre of the Friedrich-Schiller-University in Jena
09/2016 The interview with me entitled “Hirnschrittmacher für alle” which was published in Die Zeit in 2014 was included in the general, standardized, nationwide Austrian high school exam for the subject “German” on the 19th of September 2016.
11/2016 Nominee at World Technology Awards 2016, Category: Ethics.
01/2017 The chairman of the Society of Convergence Knowledge, Sung-Uk Choi, entrusts me to contribute to their society: Letter of Entrustment; Term for Commission 1.1.2017-31.12.2018.
5/2017 Diploma de Onoare from the Rector of Universitate de Vest, "Vasile Goldis" d'in Arad (by Prof. Dr. C. A. Cotoraci).
05/2017 Invited Visiting Professor at the University of Lower Silesia in Wrozlaw (by Prof. J. Stasienko).
08/2018 Invited Jury Member of the Austrian Governmental Award Patent 2018 (Together with the CEO of KTM Stefan Pierer, general director of IBM Austria Patricia Neumann, the rector of the Technical University Vienna Sabine Seidler, Senior Vice President Innovation & Technology of Borealis Maurits van Tol, and Business Angel Michael Altrichter).
4/2021 Three Articles of his were included in the “Posthuman Studies Reader”, edited by Sampanikou and Stasienko (Schwabe 2021).
5/2021 Institute of Social and Political Research – ICSP – of West University, Timisoara, hosted an international symposium entitled “LIVING THE POSTHUMAN PARADIGM-SHIFT? A SYMPOSIUM ON SORGNER’S “ON TRANSHUMANISM”” on the 27th of May 2021.
12/2021 Special Issue of the journal “Deliberatio” on my monograph “On Transhumanism” with nine articles by scholars from Oxford, Madrid, Turin Utrecht, Cape Town et al, incl. my response, edited by Aura Schussler and Florin Lobont
3/2022 International Symposium on Sorgner's "We have always been cyborgs", organized by JCU's Guarini Institute for Public Affairs (in cooperation with the History and Humanities Department)
Adivsory- and Editorial Board Member
- Editorial Board member (as Editorial Consultant) of the “Journal of Evolution and Technology“
- Advisory Board member of the "Nietzsche Circle" (New York)
- Editorial Board member of the book series “Musikphilosophie“, Alber Verlag, Freiburg i. Br.
- Member of the Advisory Board of the Encyclopedia of Anthropology. Edited by H. James Birx, 2006, 5 Vol., SAGE Publications in Thousand Oaks, California.
- Member of the Editorial Board of the Encyclopedia of Time. Edited by H. James Birx, 2009, 3. Vol., SAGE Publications in Thousand Oaks, California.
- Member of the Editorial Board of the Handbook of 21stCentury Anthropology. Edited by H. James Birx, H. James, 2010, 2. Vol., SAGE Publications in Thousand Oaks, California.
- Editor of the book series “Beyond Humanism: Trans- and Posthumanism/Jenseits des Humanismus: Trans- und Posthumanismus“, Peter Lang Publishing
- Co-Editor of the book series Nietzsche Now, Cambridge Scholars Press.
- Editorial Board Member of the journal “Anthropologia Integra”
- External Member of the Center for the Study of Bioethics of the University of Belgrade
- Director and co-founder of the Beyond Humanism Network
- Member of the Scientific Board of the journal Divenire
- Focus-Online Expert (Section „Knowledge“).
- Editor-in-Chief and Founding Editor of the Journal of Posthuman Studies: Philosophy, Technology, Media. Penn State University Press.
- Advisory Board Member of the Metabody-Project (supported by the EU; together with e.g. Donna Haraway, Katherine Hayles, Karen Barad, Stelarc, Brian Massumi)
- Editorial Board Member: Delphi – Interdisciplinary Review of Emerging Technologies.
- International Editorial Adviser of the Interdisciplinary Journal: Mabini Review.
- Editor of the Book Series Posthuman Studies, Schwabe Publishing.
- Advisory Board Member at the World Society of Posthuman Studies (Francesca Ferrando, Yunus Tuncel, Thomas Steinbuch).
- Scientific Board of the book series “Neoantropologia”, Deditore.
- Scientific Committee journal “Orbis Idearum”.
- Advisory Board member of the Lifeboat Foundation.
- Editorial Board Member: Delphi – Interdisciplinary Review of Emerging Technologies.
- Scientific Committee of the book series: Icaro. Science, Ethics and Future (Fandango).
- Member of the Editorial Team of the Journal „Postmodern Openings“
- Editorial Board Member of the “Immortalists Magazine”.
- Editorial Team member of the “Journal of Posthumanism”.
- Editorial Board member, Journal of Ecohumanism.
- Faculty Mentor of “Transhumanist Studies”
- Head of Imprint Trivent “Transhumanism”
- External Editor of “Deliberatio: Studies in Contemporary Philosophical Challenges”
- Member of the Scientific Committee of ETHIKA+, Año 3. (since No. 5, 2022)
Referee
National Research Foundations
FWF (Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung) in Austria
Research Foundation - Flanders (Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek - Vlaanderen, FWO) in Belgium
Chile
International Journals
Journal of Evolution and Technology
Journal of Medical Ethics
Medicine, Healthcare and Philosophy
Trans-Humanities
Philosophy and Rhetoric
Collegium Anthropologicum
Zeitschrift für praktische Philosophie
Anglica Wratislaviensia
Zeitschrift für Theologie und Philosophie
Publishing Houses
Blackwell
Bloomsbury
Acumen
Peter Lang
Rowman & Littlefield International
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Short CV - in English:
Stefan Lorenz Sorgner is a philosophy professor at John Cabot University in Rome, Director and Co-Founder of the Beyond Humanism Network, Fellow at the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies (IEET), Research Fellow at the Ewha Institute for the Humanities at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, academic Advisor of Humanity+, and Visiting Fellow at the Ethics Centre of the Friedrich-Schiller-University in Jena. He is editor of more than 10 essay collections, and author of the following monographs: Metaphysics without Truth (Marquette University Press 2007), Menschenwürde nach Nietzsche(WBG 2010), Transhumanismus (Herder 2016), Schöner neuer Mensch (Nicolai, 2018), Übermensch (Schwabe 2019), On Transhumanism (Penn State University Press 2020), We have always been cyborgs (Bristol University Press 2022), Philosophy of Posthuman Art (Schwabe 2022), Transhumanismus (mit Philip von Becker, Westendverlag 2023), Homo ex Machina (together with Bernd Kleine-Gunk, Goldmann 2023). In addition, he is Editor-in-Chief and Founding Editor of the “Journal of Posthuman Studies” (a double-blind peer review journal, published by Penn State University Press since 2017). Furthermore, he is in great demand as a speaker in all parts of the world (World Humanities Forum, Global Solutions Taipei Workshop, Biennale Arte Venezia, TEDx, Colours of Ostrava) and a regular contact person of national and international journalists and media representatives (Die Zeit, Cicero, Der Standard; Die Presse am Sonntag, Philosophy Now, Il Sole 24 Ore). www.sorgner.de & www.mousike.de
Stefan Lorenz Sorgner is a philosophy professor at John Cabot University in Rome, Director and Co-Founder of the Beyond Humanism Network, Fellow at the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies (IEET), Research Fellow at the Ewha Institute for the Humanities at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, academic Advisor of Humanity+, and Visiting Fellow at the Ethics Centre of the Friedrich-Schiller-University in Jena. He is editor of more than 10 essay collections, and author of the following monographs: Metaphysics without Truth (Marquette University Press 2007), Menschenwürde nach Nietzsche(WBG 2010), Transhumanismus (Herder 2016), Schöner neuer Mensch (Nicolai, 2018), Übermensch (Schwabe 2019), On Transhumanism (Penn State University Press 2020), We have always been cyborgs (Bristol University Press 2022), Philosophy of Posthuman Art (Schwabe 2022), Transhumanismus (mit Philip von Becker, Westendverlag 2023), Homo ex Machina (together with Bernd Kleine-Gunk, Goldmann 2023). In addition, he is Editor-in-Chief and Founding Editor of the “Journal of Posthuman Studies” (a double-blind peer review journal, published by Penn State University Press since 2017). Furthermore, he is in great demand as a speaker in all parts of the world (World Humanities Forum, Global Solutions Taipei Workshop, Biennale Arte Venezia, TEDx, Colours of Ostrava) and a regular contact person of national and international journalists and media representatives (Die Zeit, Cicero, Der Standard; Die Presse am Sonntag, Philosophy Now, Il Sole 24 Ore). www.sorgner.de & www.mousike.de
