Humanity+ (also Humanity Plus; formerly the World Transhumanist Association) is a non-profit international educational organization that advocates the

ethical Ethics is the philosophical study of moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches include normative ethics, applied e ...

use of

technologies Technology is the application of Conceptual model, conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word ''technology'' can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible too ...

and evidence-based science to improve the human condition.

History

Humanity+, Inc. originated as an organization under the name World Transhumanist Association. In 1998, the World Transhumanist Association (WTA) was founded by

Nick Bostrom Nick Bostrom ( ; ; born 10 March 1973) is a Philosophy, philosopher known for his work on existential risk, the anthropic principle, human enhancement ethics, whole brain emulation, Existential risk from artificial general intelligence, superin ...

and David Pearce. In 2002, it was incorporated as a

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, Trust (business), trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of ...

non-profit corporation. WTA began working toward the recognition of

transhumanism Transhumanism is a philosophical and intellectual movement that advocates the human enhancement, enhancement of the human condition by developing and making widely available new and future technologies that can greatly enhance longevity, cogni ...

as a legitimate subject of

scientific inquiry Models of scientific inquiry have two functions: first, to provide a descriptive account of ''how'' scientific inquiry is carried out in practice, and second, to provide an explanatory account of ''why'' scientific inquiry succeeds as well as it ap ...

and

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a Group decision-making, decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to Problem solving, solve or address relevant and problematic social issues, guided by a conceptio ...

, and to add to the academic presence already created by Extropy Institute in the fields of computer science, AI, nanotechnology, and philosophy. At its inception, WTA officials considered that social forces could undermine their

futurist Futurists (also known as futurologists, prospectivists, foresight practitioners and horizon scanners) are people whose specialty or interest is futures studies or futurology or the attempt to systematically explore predictions and possibilities ...

visions and needed to be addressed. A particular concern is the equal access to

human enhancement Human enhancement is the natural, artificial, or technological alteration of the human body in order to enhance physical or mental capabilities. Technologies Existing technologies Three forms of human enhancement currently exist: reproductive ...

technologies across classes and borders. In 2006,

William Saletan William Saletan is an American writer for '' The Bulwark''. He previously wrote for ''Slate'' from 1996 until 2022. Career In 2015, when Donald Trump emerged as a leading candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, Saletan described hi ...

reported a political struggle within World Transhumanist Association that erupted in 2004 largely between the

libertarian right Right-libertarianism,Rothbard, Murray (1 March 1971)"The Left and Right Within Libertarianism". ''WIN: Peace and Freedom Through Nonviolent Action''. 7 (4): 6–10. Retrieved 14 January 2020.Goodway, David (2006). '' Anarchist Seeds Beneath the ...

and the

liberal left The Liberal Left (''Sinistra Liberale'', SL) was a minor liberalism, liberal faction within the Democrats of the Left, an Italian political party. It was formed basically by former left-wingers of the Italian Liberal Party. Its leaders include Gi ...

resulting in a

centre-left Centre-left politics is the range of left-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. Ideologies commonly associated with it include social democracy, social liberalism, progressivism, and green politics. Ideas commo ...

ward positioning that continued to polarize politics under its former executive director James Hughes. In its mission statement as of 2025, Humanity+ rejects

anthropocentrism Anthropocentrism ( ) is the belief that human beings are the central or most important entity on the planet. The term can be used interchangeably with humanocentrism, and some refer to the concept as human supremacy or human exceptionalism. From a ...

Advisors and members

* David Pearce *

Natasha Vita-More Natasha Vita-More (born February 22, 1950) is an American strategic designer in the area of human enhancement and life extension. Her interests are located within the ethical uses of science and technology and socio-political implications of revo ...

George Dvorsky George P. Dvorsky (born May 11, 1970) is a Canadian bioethicist, transhumanist and futurist. He is a contributing editor at io9 and producer of the ''Sentient Developments'' blog and podcast. He was chair of the board for the Institute for Ethics ...

Giulio Prisco Giulio Prisco (born in Naples in 1957) is an Italian information technology and virtual reality consultant; as well as a writer, futurist, transhumanist, and cosmist. He is an advocate of cryonics and contributes to the science and technology on ...

* James Hughes *

Mark Alan Walker Mark Alan Walker (born 1963) is a Canadian-American philosopher. He is a professor of philosophy at New Mexico State University, where he occupies the Richard L. Hedden Endowed Chair in Advanced Philosophical Studies. Prior to his professorship at ...

Aubrey de Grey Aubrey David Nicholas Jasper de Grey (; born 20 April 1963) is an English biomedical gerontologist. He is the author of ''The Mitochondrial Free Radical Theory of Aging'' (1999) and co-author of '' Ending Aging'' (2007). De Grey is known for ...

Max More Max More (born Max T. O'Connor, January 1964) is a philosopher and futurist who writes, speaks, and consults on emerging technologies. He was the president and CEO of the Alcor Life Extension Foundation between 2010 and 2020. Born in Bristol, E ...

Ben Goertzel Ben Goertzel is a computer scientist, artificial intelligence researcher, and businessman. He helped popularize the term artificial general intelligence. Early life and education Three of Goertzel's Jewish great-grandparents immigrated to New Yo ...

Patri Friedman Patri Friedman (born July 29, 1976) is an American libertarian, anarcho-capitalist, and theorist of political economy. He founded The Seasteading Institute, a non-profit that explores the creation of sovereign ocean colonies. Early life and ed ...

R. U. Sirius R. U. Sirius (born Ken Goffman in 1952) is an American writer, editor, talk show host, musician and cyberculture celebrity. He is best known as co-founder of '' Mondo 2000'' magazine and its original editor-in-chief from 1989 to 1993. Sirius has ...

Martine Rothblatt Martine Aliana Rothblatt is an American lawyer, author, and entrepreneur. Rothblatt graduated from University of California, Los Angeles with J.D. and M.B.A. degrees in 1981, then began to work in Washington, D.C., first in the field of communic ...

Linda MacDonald Glenn Linda MacDonald Glenn is an American bioethics, bioethicist, healthcare educator, lecturer, consultant, and attorney-at-law. Her academic research encompasses the legal, ethical, and social impact of emerging and exponential technologies and "evolv ...

Giuseppe Vatinno Giuseppe Vatinno (Rome, April 3, 1961) is an Italian politician, journalist and writer. As part of the Italy of Values party, he has been a member of the Observatory on High Speed Rail for the Bologna Node from 2006 to 2008, and advisor for envir ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control 501(c)(3) organizations Non-profit organizations based in California Transhumanist organizations