David Pearce (born April 1959) is a British

transhumanist Transhumanism is a philosophical and intellectual movement which advocates the enhancement of the human condition by developing and making widely available sophisticated technologies that can greatly enhance longevity and cognition. Transhuma ...

philosopher. He is the co-founder of the World Transhumanist Association, currently rebranded and incorporated as

Humanity+ Humanity most commonly refers to: * Humankind, the total population of humans * Humanity (virtue) Humanity may also refer to: Literature * ''Humanity'' (journal), an academic journal that focuses on human rights * ''Humanity: A Moral History of ...

. Pearce approaches ethical issues from a lexical negative utilitarian perspective. Based in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

, England, Pearce maintains a series of websites devoted to transhumanist topics and what he calls the "hedonistic imperative", a moral obligation to work towards the

abolition of suffering The eradication or abolition of suffering is the concept of using biotechnology to create a permanent absence of involuntary pain and suffering in all sentient beings. Biology and medicine The discovery of modern anesthesia in the 19th century ...

in all

sentient Sentience is the capacity to experience feelings and sensations. The word was first coined by philosophers in the 1630s for the concept of an ability to feel, derived from Latin '' sentientem'' (a feeling), to distinguish it from the ability to ...

life. His self-published internet manifesto, ''The Hedonistic Imperative'' (1995), outlines how

pharmacology Pharmacology is a branch of medicine, biology and pharmaceutical sciences concerned with drug or medication action, where a drug may be defined as any artificial, natural, or endogenous (from within the body) molecule which exerts a biochemica ...

genetic engineering Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of technologies used to change the genetic makeup of cells, including ...

nanotechnology Nanotechnology, also shortened to nanotech, is the use of matter on an atomic, molecular, and supramolecular scale for industrial purposes. The earliest, widespread description of nanotechnology referred to the particular technological goal ...

and

neurosurgery Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical specialty concerned with the surgical treatment of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord and pe ...

could converge to eliminate all forms of unpleasant experience from human and non-human life, replacing suffering with "information-sensitive gradients of bliss".Bostrom (2005)
15. Pearce calls this the "abolitionist project".

Early life and education

Pearce grew up in Burpham, Surrey. His parents, grandparents and three of his great-grandparents were all vegetarian and his father was a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...

. From a young age, Pearce was concerned with death and aging, and later the problem of suffering. Pearce received a scholarship to study Politics, Philosophy and Economics at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, but never finished his degree.

Hedonistic transhumanism

In 1995, Pearce set up

BLTC The phrase "Better Living Through Chemistry" is a variant of a DuPont advertising slogan, "Better Things for Better Living...Through Chemistry." DuPont adopted it in 1935 and it was their slogan until 1982 when the "Through Chemistry" part was dr ...

Research, a network of websites publishing texts about transhumanism and related topics in

and biopsychiatry. He published ''The Hedonistic Imperative'' that year, arguing that " r post-human successors will rewrite the vertebrate genome, redesign the global ecosystem, and abolish suffering throughout the living world." Pearce's ideas inspired an abolitionist school of transhumanism, or "hedonistic transhumanism", based on his idea of "paradise engineering" and his argument that the abolition of suffering—which he calls the "abolitionist project"—is a moral imperative.Thweatt-Bates, Jeanine (2016). ''Cyborg Selves: A Theological Anthropology of the Posthuman''. London: Routledge, 50–51 (first published 2012). He defends a version of negative utilitarianism. He outlines how drugs and technologies, including intracranial self-stimulation (" wireheading"),

designer drug A designer drug is a structural or functional analog of a controlled substance that has been designed to mimic the pharmacological effects of the original drug, while avoiding classification as illegal and/or detection in standard drug tests. D ...

s and genetic engineering could end suffering for all sentient life. Mental suffering will be a relic of the past, just as physical suffering during surgery was eliminated by

anaesthesia Anesthesia is a state of controlled, temporary loss of sensation or awareness that is induced for medical or veterinary purposes. It may include some or all of analgesia (relief from or prevention of pain), paralysis (muscle relaxation), a ...

. The function of pain will be provided by some other signal, without the unpleasant experience. A

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. ...

, Pearce argues that humans have a responsibility not only to avoid

cruelty to animals Cruelty to animals, also called animal abuse, animal neglect or animal cruelty, is the infliction by omission (neglect) or by commission by humans of suffering or harm upon non-human animals. More narrowly, it can be the causing of harm or suf ...

within human society but also to redesign the global ecosystem so that animals do not suffer in the wild.Thweatt-Bates (2016), 100–101. He has argued in favour of a "cross-species global analogue of the

welfare state A welfare state is a form of government in which the state (or a well-established network of social institutions) protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based upon the principles of equal opportunity, equita ...

", suggesting that humanity might eventually "reprogram predators" to limit

predation Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill ...

, reducing the suffering of animals who are predated. Fertility regulation could maintain herbivore populations at sustainable levels, "a more civilised and compassionate policy option than famine, predation, and disease". The increasing number of vegans and vegetarians in the transhumanism movement has been attributed in part to Pearce's influence.

Humanity+ and other roles

In 1998, Pearce co-founded the World Transhumanist Association, known from 2008 as

, with

Nick Bostrom Nick Bostrom ( ; sv, Niklas Boström ; born 10 March 1973) is a Swedish-born philosopher at the University of Oxford known for his work on existential risk, the anthropic principle, human enhancement ethics, superintelligence risks, and the ...

. Pearce is a member of the board of advisors. Currently, Pearce is a fellow of the

Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies The Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies (IEET) is a technoprogressive think tank that seeks to "promote ideas about how technological progress can increase freedom, happiness, and human flourishing in democratic societies."Joseph R. ...

, and sits on the futurist advisory board of the

Lifeboat Foundation The Lifeboat Foundation is a nonprofit organization in Reno, Nevada, dedicated to the prevention of global catastrophic risk. Technology journalist Ashlee Vance describes Lifeboat as "a nonprofit that seeks to protect people from some seriously ca ...

. He is also the director of bioethics of Invincible Wellbeing and is on the advisory boards of the Center on Long-Term Risk, the

Organisation for the Prevention of Intense Suffering An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived from ...

and since 2021 the Qualia Research Institute. Until 2013, Pearce was on the editorial advisory board of the controversial and non-

peer review Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work ( peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer revie ...

ed journal ''

Medical Hypotheses ''Medical Hypotheses'' is a not-conventionally-peer reviewed medical journal published by Elsevier. It was originally intended as a forum for unconventional ideas without the traditional filter of scientific peer review, "as long as (the ideas) are ...

''. He has been interviewed by ''

Vanity Fair Vanity Fair may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Literature * Vanity Fair, a location in '' The Pilgrim's Progress'' (1678), by John Bunyan * ''Vanity Fair'' (novel), 1848, by William Makepeace Thackeray * ''Vanity Fair'' (magazines), the ...

'' (Germany) and on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC's ...

's '' The Moral Maze'', among others.

Books

*
The Biointelligence Explosion: How Recursively Self-Improving Organic Robots will Modify their Own Source Code and Bootstrap Our Way to Full-Spectrum Superintelligence
in *

'. Vinding, M. (Ed.). 2017.

ASIN Asin Thottumkal (born 26 October 1985), known mononymously as Asin, is a former Indian actress who appeared predominantly in Tamil, Hindi and Telugu films. She is a trained Bharatanatyam dancer. She has received three Filmfare Awards. She ...

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References

External links

*
The Hedonistic ImperativeBLTC Research
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pearce, David 1959 births 20th-century British educators 20th-century British male writers 20th-century British non-fiction writers 20th-century British philosophers 20th-century essayists 21st-century British educators 21st-century British male writers 21st-century British non-fiction writers 21st-century British philosophers 21st-century essayists Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford Animal rights scholars Animal welfare scholars British animal rights activists British ethicists British male essayists British male non-fiction writers British philosophers British social commentators British transhumanists British veganism activists Consciousness researchers and theorists Consequentialists Contemporary philosophers Cryonicists Cultural critics Futurologists Hedonism Life extensionists Living people Moral philosophers Nonviolence advocates People associated with effective altruism People from Brighton People from Surrey Philosophers of culture Philosophers of ethics and morality Philosophers of science Philosophers of social science Philosophers of technology Social critics Sustainability advocates Utilitarians Writers about activism and social change Writers about globalization