Humans have always imagined better futures. From the desire to overcome death to the aspiration
to dominion over the world imaginations of the technological future reveal the commitments
values and norms of those who construct them. Today the human future is thrown into question
by emerging technologies that promise radical control over human life and elicit corollary
imaginations of human perfectibility. This interdisciplinary volume assembles scholars of
science and technology studies sociology philosophy theology ethics and history to examine
imaginations of technological progress that promises to transcend the constraints of human body
and being. Attending in particular to transhumanist and posthumanist visions the volume breaks
new ground by exploring their utopian and eschatological dimensions and situating them within a
broader context of ideas institutions and practices of innovation. The volume invites
specialists and general readers to explore the stakes of contemporary imaginations of
technological innovation as a source of progress a force of social and historical
transformation and as the defining essence of human life.
