James Hughes (sociologist)
| James J. Hughes | |
|---|---|
In San Francisco 2012
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| Born |
May 27, 1961 Columbus, Ohio |
| Residence | Hartford, Connecticut, US |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Ph.D., M.A. (Univ. of Chicago), B.A. (Oberlin College) |
| Occupation | Executive Director of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, |
| Known for | Work in Sociology, Executive Director at Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies (IEET), Director of Institutional Research & Planning at Trinity College |
| Notable work | Wrote Citizen Cyborg |
| Spouse(s) | Monica Bock |
| Website | http://ieet.org |
James J. Hughes (born May 27, 1961) is an American sociologist and bioethicist. He is the Executive Director of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies and teaches health policy at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut 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 tentatively titled Cyborg Buddha: Using Neurotechnology to Become Better People.
Hughes holds a doctorate in sociology from the University of Chicago, where he served as the assistant director of research for the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics. Before graduate school he was temporarily ordained as a Buddhist monk in 1984 while working as a volunteer in Sri Lanka for the development organization Sarvodaya from 1983 to 1985.
Hughes served as the executive director of the World Transhumanist Association (which has since changed its name to Humanity+) from 2004 to 2006, and currently serves as the executive director of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, 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, Hughes argues for a third way, "democratic transhumanism", a radical form of techno-progressivism which 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.
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