The International Conference Marx and the Critique of Humanism organized by the Centre of Philosophy, School of Arts and Humanities, University of Lisbon on 7-8 November 2022 aims to examine a cutting-edge aspect of contemporary debates on humanism, especially transhumanism and post-humanism, from Marx’s perspective. The premise of this conference is that Marx’s writings refuse the notion of an unchanging or pre-given ‘essence’ of what it means to be human. Marx repeatedly affirmed the historical variability of human needs, drives and capacities, since ‘all history is nothing but a continuous transformation of human nature’ (The Poverty of Philosophy). For Marx, the ‘human essence’ is ‘the ensemble of social relations’ (Theses on Feuerbach, VI), while social relations are made and remade by human action. The “essence” of the human in Marx’ work is thus a self-transformative function pointing to an open idea of humanity that remains inexhaustible across its multiple and varying concrete actualisations. In the context of a proliferation of theoretical ‘overcomings’ of humanity, a re-reading of Marx’s texts shows that Marx’s understanding of ‘human essence’ not only engages with the concerns of post-humanist and transhumanist perspectives but reveals unthought aspects of these standpoints.
The conference brings together 50 participants from all around the world, of which 6 (six) keynote speakers: 4 in presence and 2 by zoom.

Organização: Praxis-CFUL

Contatos: marxandhumanism2022@gmail.com

Website: https://cful.letras.ulisboa.pt/events/marx-and-the-critique-of-humanism-international-conference/