ABSTRACT
The processes of hyper-modernization are moving in the direction of transcending all limitations of the human person, based on the supposition that the latter is deemed to be too weak, fragile, and perishable. The human/non-human distinction is blurred in every direction, in order to reach a higher evolutionary stage (a theory of technological singularity). Donati debates these trends and claims that the transcendence of the human does not lie in an enhanced individual, nor in human-like technologies, but primarily in the interpersonal relationships considered within a context of social networks, and not in isolation. What is distinctive of the human is its proper and unique relational nature, both as constitution and activities, which is not replaceable by any other natural, artificial or hybrid entity. The distinction human/non-human is a transcendental relation that contains an enigma. It can be seen only in a framework that recognizes the inter-dependent and inter-penetrating nature of the relations between all levels/layers of reality. It concerns both the personal body/mind relationship and the agential causal powers necessary to generate relational goods. In the end, the human transcends itself in its original internal as well as external relationality, whose emergent effect is a real ‘third’ that has no functional substitutes or equivalents.
