Preserving Humanity in an Era of Global Threats: Humanism as a Counterforce to the Elimination of the Human

Abstract

Section introduction. The contemporary era presents humanity with fundamental existential questions. It is an age defined, on the one hand, by the revolutionary and rapid development of high technologies, including information and communication systems, genetic engineering, biotechnology, and artificial intelligence, alongside pervasive digitalization. On the other hand, it is marked by the chaotic emergence of geopolitical conflicts. Among these questions, the most acute concerns the future of humanity itself and the preservation of the essential qualities that distinguish us from the rest of the natural world. This issue is amplified by an intensifying discourse in which classical humanism is challenged by the radical concepts of transhumanism and posthumanism. These newer ideologies often frame the “enhancement” or even the superseding of human nature as a logical and desirable stage of evolution. In this ideological struggle, humanism acts as more than just a philosophical stance; it functions as a crucial bulwark against the forces of degradation and the observable erosion of what it means to be human.