Questioning Human Technogenesis

The doctoral workshop "Questioning Human Technogenesis" begins with the premise that humans have always been technological beings, and that the essentialist distinction between the natural and the artificial is more a cultural construct than an empirical fact. Human technogenesis refers to the co-evolutionary process in which humans and their technological creations develop in tandem, continuously shaping and transforming one another. This concept has re-emerged as a subject of debate, particularly following the work of Bernard Stiegler, who argues that human evolution is inseparable from the externalization of knowledge into technical artifacts – a process he terms exosomatization. From the earliest systems of measurement and calculation to contemporary advances in artificial intelligence and biotechnology, humans have always depended on external devices and techniques to enhance their cognitive and physical capacities. Within this framework, however, humanity’s defining characteristic is not merely the ability to use external tools to compensate for our inherent structural incompleteness, but rather our reliance on externalized systems of memory, knowledge, and agency. The workshop will encourage participants to reflect on how technogenesis shapes not only biology but also culture, society, and politics – creating space and time but also power dynamics. By adopting an interdisciplinary approach, we will critically examine how this anti-dualist framework can elucidate the intricate relationships between technological and human development. Ultimately, this workshop asks: in what ways does technogenesis reveal what it means — and what it does not mean — to be human?