title: [A cyborg is only human].
abstract: New biomedical technologies make it possible to replace parts of the human body or to substitute its functions. Examples include artificial joints, eye lenses and arterial stents. Newer technologies use electronics and software, for example in brain-computer interfaces such as retinal implants and the exoskeleton MindWalker. Gradually we are creating cyborgs: hybrids of man and machine. This raises the question: are cyborgs still humans? It is argued that they are. First, because employing technology is a typically human characteristic. Second, because in western thought the human mind, and not the body, is considered to be the seat of personhood. However, it has been argued by phenomenological philosophers that the body is more than just an object but is also a subject, important for human identity. From this perspective, we can appreciate that a bionic body does not make one less human, but it does influence the experience of being human.
authors.affiliation: Erasmus MC, afd. Medische Ethiek en Filosofie, Rotterdam.
authors.forename: Maartje  H N
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schermer
mesh_terms: D062207:Brain-Computer Interfaces; D006801:Humans; D019736:Prostheses and Implants; D012371:Robotics