Smear Gel Paper for a Contingent Marble Sculpture. A Reply to Some Critics

In the article, “Smear Gel Paper for a Contingent Marble Sculpture. A Reply to some Critics” Sorgner answers selected criticisms of his monograph “We have always been cyborgs” (2022) which were put forward by Russel Blackford, Steven Umbrello, Steve Fuller, Maurizio Balistreri, and John Danaher. The meaning of the term “violence” was central for issues raised by Russel Blackford. Steven Umbrello questions whether Sorgner has sufficiently taken into consideration the ethical turn towards design-embedded norms and values. According to Steve Fuller, Sorgner presents a bioconservative, cishuman transhumanism. There is a difference between replanning the human and enhancing human capacities, according to Maurizio Balistreri. John Danaher confronts Sorgner’s weak transhumanism with arguments in favour of a classic version of transhumanism. Each criticism is being dealt with in a separate sub-chapter.