Post-Human (a critique of humanism)

Posthumanism is very slippery! Education and the “preoccupation with the project of ‘the human’” (Pedersen, 2010, p. 243), bit of an epic theme! Subject as opposed to Object; if I were to consider ‘subject’ as being central to Education and ‘the human’ project; subject being, what has unique experiences and has unique consciousness, and object as having relational value with subject, giving form to the relationship between Matter and Meaning.

A critique of humanism would be a dismantling of Subject, and that subjects relationship with objects. So, this fits with the eco agenda (in all its many manifestations), fits with animal studies, fits with gender debate, fits with human reconfiguration, de-industrialisation and relationships with technology; a continuation of neo-liberalism (Pedersen, 2010).

So what is at the hart of the Post-Human debate? I don’t believe that it’s possible to disassociate/separate matter from meaning, subject from object. It is a fundamental human condition to have concern (related to empathy?) – but what is possible is a reconfiguration of relationships. In my last post I related to ‘Form & Function’ and how art/design achieves insight through reconfiguration of relationships.

So what impact has a critique of humanism, on education, seen in this context? Increased intersubjectivity? It has to be bigger than that…