There is a chance to organise a symposium on Transhumanism and Immortalist at the World Congress on Philosophy in Seoul in 2008. This is important!
We need official support from departments of philosophy, universities and national philosophical societies. Please help. This is urgent, we need results by Tuesday (Feb 6).
Below is
1. information about the congress
2. my explanation of the situation
3. basic template
4. instructions for sending letters
1. Information page:
http://rtd2.pbwiki.com/Seoul-2008
2. The situation is as follows:
In August 2008 the XXII International Philosophical Congress will be held
in Seuol (South Korea). It is held once every 5 years. This time we hope
to have a large section on immortalism and transhumanism.
This proposal is officially supported by Russian Philosophical Society and
its President, Vyacheslav Stepin (also Director of the Institute of
Philosophy of RAS and head of social science studies in the Academy of
Sciences), as well as a number of organisations internationally.
But we need more support to be sure.
If you can persuade some prominent organisations to support
this proposal, it would help a lot. Your own personal endorsement
(that of ImmInst) would also be valuable.
Below I describe the situation in more details.
Last time, in 2003 (in Turkey) there was a tiny, small and insignificant
round table on immortalism.
This time, if all immortalists and transhumanists of the world (or at
least a significant fraction of them does) act together, quickly and with
full determination and force, we can force/persuade the organisers to hold
a symposium (and a plenary talk/session) on transhumanism and immortalism.
Vyacheslav Stepin, the President of the Russian Philosophical Society
officially supported this initiative, as well as number of prominent
Russian philosophers. Russian Gerontology Society officially (Anissimov)
supports this as well.
Right now we need to quickly get official support from national
philosophical societies as well as other relevant organisations. We need
all the support that we can get.
This would have very significant impact, since it's on world philosophical
congresses, (and this one is especially dedicated to rethinking
philosophy!) that popular memes like "sustainable development" and
"information society" emerge and spread around. Hopefully the immortalism
meme can get some of much needed political and social support there.
The leading Korean newspaper started 2007 with a transhumanism story on
the front page. Korea is THE place to move immortalism and transhumanism
into mainstream.
You can reach me on +7 905 768-04-57 or +7 495 489-52-60.
Danila Medvedev,
Russian Transhumanist Movement
what credentials do the senders of the letter need?
ideally - head of national philosophical society.
very good - head of university or head of dept. of philosophy at a university.
good - prominent philosopher.
nice to have - professional philosopher, PhD in Philosophy.
The template:
1) the importance and increasing relevance of immortalism and transhumanism
2) our support for the symposium at the congress
Basic example (rephrase and expand):
Dear Sirs,
In recent years, Immortalism and Transhumanism are increasingly forming
into a sizable intellectual and social movement. The underlying principle
of these philosophies is the strife for ethical use of technology to
radically extend human life and human capabilities. As such, it may
deserve the recognition of the wider philosophical community.
Therefore, we are enthusiastic to endorse the establishment of a
Transhumanist/Immortalist symposium at the XXII World Congress of
Philosophy that will take place in Seoul, 2008.
Instructions:
Send the letter of support using the formal e-mail template of your
institution to the following address:
danila.medvedev@gmail.com
send a copy (cc) to rtd-info@mail.ru
Place in the subject: "In support of symposium on immortalism and
transhumanism"
Additionally, please print the letter, have it signed and fax to
+7 495 637-24-02 (phone/fax)
during the working hours 10:00-17:00 (+3:00 GMT). Say "please receive a
fax" (it is not automatic).
Edited by danila, 21 February 2007 - 09:46 AM.
