Serena's Webliography

“From Frankenstein to the Visible Human Project, the body is continually reinterpreted as a limit to what it means to be human.” Discuss critically.
Critical Annotated Webliography

1 - Dr. Frankenstein and the Industrial Body: Reflections on ‘Spare Part’ Surgery. By Cecil Helman.

This article found in the ‘Anthropology Today’ journal was written in 1988 and addresses the culture of science and the developmental process of becoming the ‘modern industrial body’. Helman discusses the impact that Frankenstein has had on popular culture and science fiction as well as their influential ideas which impacted/directed medical science over the years, stating that the body has been reconceptualised as a ‘machine’. Helman believes that Spare Part Surgery is becoming an increasing trend and expresses concern that the body “is now a collection of parts or pieces, for which spares are readily available” and goes on to configure contemporary attitudes towards the body and the challenges they put up for the natural creation of human beings.
This article is relevant to the guiding essay question as it is directly concerned with the ‘body’ and its reinterpretation.

2 – Genetic Encores: The Ethics of Human Cloning. By Robert Wachbroit.

This report was written for the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy and addresses some of the issues that arise when discussing human cloning. Wachbroit draws on several medicos and academics throughout his article in attempt to outline specific problems with the cloning process and argues that human cloning is less advanced than human genetic engineering. However, having considered medical needs Wachbroit is still concerned with the ethical issues that cloning encounters. Namely, the undermining of the family structure and unclear lineages but also the emotional difficulties a cloned child might grapple with on a daily basis for example: individuality, dignity, self-worth and so on.
Although this report/article is focussed on ethical, social and legal discussion it is certainly relevant to the guiding question as a descriptive example of the limit of what it means to be human.

3 – Culture Change. By Prof. Jane Goodall.

This transcript found on the ABC Radio National website is a lecture given by a fascinating crime novelist come, university lecturer come, philosopher who is grappling with the rapid change in culture in regards to technologies. Goodall has noticed a dominant focus on ‘imagined technologies’ in regards to science and science fiction and their relationship. When discussing who human beings are Goodall presents some important dualities: culture and technology, Homo Economicus and Bio-Humanity, and planet finance and planet earth. She states that although the rapid pace of technology thrusts us forward, there is almost certainly an element of holding back for many who find a residual affinity with nature.
This work is relevant to the guiding question as it supports the idea that while technology is seemingly continued advancement for the human race, some people prefer to slow the pace down and limit what it means to be human. Of course, this website is an endless resource that is updated daily with the latest ideas and theories. The site is well formatted and contains numerous links to other academic resources.


4 – Natural Born Cyborgs. By Andy Clark.

In his article titled ‘Natural Born Cyborgs’ Andy Clark uses colourful descriptive language to discuss his belief that we are all cyborgs. Clark writes about the brain, technology, and ‘smart worlds’. In a smart world he says, we are “human technology symbionts: thinking and reasoning systems whose minds and selves are spread across biological brain and non-biological circuitry”. He grapples with the idea that the brain is simply the mediator in a complex world of technology, yet we are creating those complexities by inventing and reinventing computer systems that are smarter than humans. Human progression is rapid.
This article is fascinating in that its dealing more with the internal body, how our minds work, and what creates a fast/clever brain. He desires understanding of reasoning yet accepts it will never eventuate.

5 – What does it mean to be human? By Teresa Iglesias.

In her article Teresa Iglesias questions just what it is to be human. Her argument maintains that to be a human being you must be a human person and vice versa. While Iglesias acknowledges other arguments that differ from her own as a result of philosophical science for example, a human may not be a human until it is born, she draws the readers attention to three fundamental aspects of what a human being is. Firstly: the human being is bodily, organic and physical, secondly: the human being is a living whole, an individual, and thirdly: the human being is has a temporal continuity and history.
This article is relevant to the guiding essay question as it deals with the notion of ‘what is human’? To use Iglesias’ argument in an essay that is focussed on unpacking the human body and the extent to which it is being reinterpreted, would be to bring the argument to a state of organic, simple, and untouched.



















Webliography

Cecil Helman, ‘Dr. Frankenstein and the Industrial Body: Reflections on ‘Spare Part’ Surgery (June 1988), http://www.jstor.org/stable/3032641 (accessed 24/08/08).
Edge, The Third Culture, Andy Clark: “Natural Born Cyborgs?” (August 2008), http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/clark/clark_index.html (accessed 27/08/08).
Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy, Robert Wachbroit: Genetic Encores: The Ethics of Human Cloning (2008), http://www.publicpolicy.umd.edu/IPPP/Fall97Report/cloning.htm
Radio National transcript, Prof. Jane Goodall, “Culture Change” (17th August 2008), http://www.abc.net.au/rn/ockhamsrazor/stories/2008/2335298.htm (accessed 27/08/08).
The Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity, Teresa Iglesias: “What Does it Mean to be Human?”(January 2004), http://www.cbhd.org/resources/bioethics/iglesias_2004-01-06.htm (accessed 27/08/08).