Art of Being Posthuman

Francesca Ferrando is Professor of Philosophy at NYU Liberal Studies and a leading voice in the field of Posthuman Studies.

“As we barrel toward a cowardly new world of anthropocentric accumulation and destruction, Francesca Ferrando has written a brave new book showing a different world is possible when we embrace a philosophy and praxis that dethrones the human, not for a mess of AI, but for life in all of its manifestations and infinite variety to thrive. Francesca Ferrando is the philosopher poet for our times; The Art of Being is where we all must begin.”Robin D. G. Kelley, Distinguished Professor and Gary B. Nash Endowed Chair in U.S. History, UCLA. Author of Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination“Ferrando is a visionary endowed with a profound sense of ethics. In this remarkable new book, she explores the posthuman as a tool to reach a more adequate understanding of our existential condition, but also as a way of developing a deeper wisdom about what we are in the process of becoming. Generous, even daring at time, Ferrando combines critical intelligence with a visceral love of the world.”Rosi Braidotti, Distinguished Professor Emerita, Utrecht University, The Netherlands“Ferrando’s journey, from existence and art to education and agency, reiterates the urgent need to rethink our selves as relational, distributed and connected. With a style that merges the personal and the academic, this book delivers up a complex picture of the posthuman.”Pramod K. Nayar, UNESCO Chair in Vulnerability Studies, University of Hyderabad, India“Modern humanism, with its anthropocentric, androcentric, Eurocentric, logocentric and technocentric norms, has dragged us to the brink of disaster. The Art of Being Posthuman is an urgent set of meditations aiming to reverse this trend through the conscious praxis of an art of existence.”Debashish Banerji, California Institute of Integral Studies, United States“[E]ssential reading for anyone grappling with human identity and freedom in the digital age.”The Kathmandu Post"profound and compelling"Journal of Ethics and Emerging Technologies

• PremiseIntroduction: How can Posthumanism bring Change?Meditation 1: Posthuman Self-EnquiryMeditation 2: Human EvolutionsMeditation 3: Biotic Co-EmergencesMeditation 4: Ecological PresenceMeditation 5: Cosmic ConstellationsMeditation 6: Technological EnhancementMeditation 7: Socio-cultural AgencyMeditation 8: Ontological AwarenessConclusions: Posthuman MantraDownload supporting exercises and prompts here