James J. Hughes (born May 27, 1961) is an American sociologist and

bioethicist Bioethics is both a field of study and professional practice, interested in ethical issues related to health (primarily focused on the human, but also increasingly includes animal ethics), including those emerging from advances in biology, med ...

. He is the Executive Director of the

Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies The Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies (IEET) is a technoprogressive think tank that seeks to "promote ideas about how technological progress can increase freedom, happiness, and human flourishing in democratic societies."Joseph R. ...

and teaches health policy at

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

Hartford Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since t ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

in the United States. He is the author of ''Citizen Cyborg: Why Democratic Societies Must Respond to the Redesigned Human of the Future'' and is currently writing a book about moral bioenhancement tentatively titled ''Cyborg Buddha: Using Neurotechnology to Become Better People''.

Biography

Hughes holds a doctorate in sociology from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

, where he served as the assistant director of research for the

MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics The MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics, founded in 1981, is a non-profit clinical medical ethics research institute based in the United States. Founded by its director, Mark Siegler, the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics aims to ...

. Before graduate school he was temporarily ordained as a

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

monk in 1984 while working as a volunteer in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

for the development organization

Sarvodaya Sarvōdaya ( hi, सर्वोदय '' sarv-'' "all", '' uday'' "rising") is a Sanskrit term which generally means "universal uplift" or "progress of all". The term was used by Mahatma Gandhi as the title of his 1908 translation of John Ruskin ...

from 1983 to 1985. Hughes served as executive director of the

World Transhumanist Association Humanity+ (also Humanity Plus; formerly the World Transhumanist Association) is a non-profit international educational organization that advocates the ethical use of technologies and evidence-based science to improve the human condition. This cond ...

from 2004 to 2006 and currently serves as executive director of the

, which he founded with Nick Bostrom. He also produces the syndicated weekly public affairs radio talk show program ''Changesurfer Radio'' and contributed to the ''Cyborg Democracy'' blog. Hughes' book '' Citizen Cyborg: Why Democratic Societies Must Respond to the Redesigned Human of the Future'' was published by Westview Press in November 2004. Rejecting bioconservatism and

libertarian transhumanism Transhumanist politics constitutes a group of political ideologies that generally express the belief in improving human individuals through science and technology. History The term "transhumanism" with its present meaning was popularised by J ...

, Hughes argues for democratic transhumanism, a radical form of

techno-progressivism Techno-progressivism or tech-progressivism is a stance of active support for the wikt:convergence, convergence of technological change and social change. Techno-progressives argue that technological developments can be profoundly empowerment, e ...

that asserts that the best possible " posthuman future" is achievable only by ensuring that human enhancement technologies are safe, made available to everyone, and respect the right of individuals to control their own bodies. Hughes sits on the academic advisory council of the Christian Transhumanist Association.

Works

Embracing Change with All Four Arms: A Post-Humanist Defense of Genetic Engineering
. ''Eubios Journal of Asian and International Bioethics'' 6(4), 94-101 *Hughes, James (2002).

. 2001 Annual Meeting of the Society for Social Studies of Science *Hughes, James (2002).

Transhumanity
blog * Hughes, James (2002–2004)
Changesurfing
Archived

Betterhumans Humanity+ (also Humanity Plus; formerly the World Transhumanist Association) is a non-profit international educational organization that advocates the ethical use of technologies and evidence-based science to improve the human condition. This cond ...

column * Hughes, James (2004). Book: '' Citizen Cyborg: Why Democratic Societies Must Respond to the Redesigned Human of the Future''. Westview Press. * A collection of interviews and presentations a
Science, Technology & the Future
* LaGrandeur, Kevin, Hughes, James J. (Eds.) (2017). Surviving the Machine Age: Intelligent Technology and the Transformation of Human Work. * Up and coming book: ''Cyborg Buddha: Using Neurotechnology to Become Better People.''

References

External links

Changesurfer Consulting
a web portal to James Hughes' projects
Changesurfer Radio
"a weekly, syndicated public affairs radio show transmitting a sexy, high-tech vision of a radically democratic future"
Institute of Ethics and Emerging Technologies: James Hughes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, James American Buddhists American socialists American sociologists Bioethicists Futurologists 1961 births Living people Trinity College (Connecticut) faculty University of Chicago alumni American transhumanists

Biography

Works

See also

References

External links