Stefan Lorenz Sorgner

Stefan Lorenz Sorgner is a metahumanist philosopher, a Nietzsche scholar, a philosopher of music and an authority in the field of ethics of emerging technologies. Currently, he teaches medical ethics at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. He studied philosophy at King's College London (BA), the University of Durham (MA by thesis; examiners: David E. Cooper, Durham; David Owen, Southampton), the Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen and the Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena (Dr. phil.; Examiners: Wolfgang Welsch, Jena; Gianni Vattimo, Turin). Before coming to Erlangen, he taught philosophy and ethics at the Universities of Giessen, Jena and Erfurt. He is a member of several editorial and advisory boards.

In issue 20(1) of the Journal of Evolution and Technology, Sorgner's article “Nietzsche, the Overhuman, and Transhumanism” was published in which he shows that there are significant similarities between Nietzsche's concept of the overhuman and the concept of the posthuman according to the view of some transhumanists. His interpretation brought about a response both among Nietzsche scholars as well as among transhumanists. The editors of the Journal of Evolution and Technology dedicated a special issue to the question concerning the relationship between transhumanism, Nietzsche and European posthumanist philosophies (posthumanism). Vol. 21 Issue 1 – January 2010 of the Journal of Evolution and Technology was entitled "Nietzsche and European Posthumanisms" and it included responses to Sorgner's article, for example by Max More,Michael Hauskeller. Due to the intense debate, the editors of the journal decided to give Sorgner the chance to react to the articles. In vol. 21 Issue 2 – October 2010, Sorgner replied to the various responses in his article "Beyond Humanism: Reflections on Trans- and Posthumanism". In addition, herein he also put forward some aspects of his own philosophical position which was strongly influenced by his teacher Gianni Vattimo. He accepts Vattimo's pensiero debole, but criticises Vattimo's understanding of the history of the weakening of being. As an alternative, Sorgner suggests a this-worldly, naturalist interpretation of the world, which he explained in more detail in his 2010 monograph "Menschenwuerde nach Nietzsche: Die Geschichte eines Begriffs" (WBG, Darmstadt 2010). After bioethicists, and transhumanists had discussed the relationship between Nietzsche and transhumanism, the debate was taken up by some leading Nietzsche scholars: Keith Ansell-Pearson, Paul Loeb and Babette Babich wrote responses in the journal the Agonist which is being published by the Nietzsche Circle New York. Sorgner's metahumanism and in particular his monograph "Menschenwürde nach Nietzsche" (WBG 2010) was dealt with in a symposium organised by the Nietzsche Forum Munich which had been co-founded by Thomas Mann. Leading German philosophers, e.g. Annemarie Pieper, responded to Sorgner's suggestions concerning the need to revise the dominant concept of human dignity at this event. In autumn 2014, an essay collection entitled "Umwertung der Menschenwürde" (edited by Beatrix Vogel) was published by the Alber Verlag in which leading international theologians, philosophers, and ethicists wrote critical replies to Sorgner's suggestions concerning the notion "human dignity".

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