Transhumanism, Embodied Cognition, and Psychiatry

In this chapter, Thomas Fuchs argues, from a psychiatrist’s perspective and against the intrinsically mind-body-dualistic understanding of human beings advocated by transhumanists, that processes of life and processes of consciousness are inseparably linked through the living body as a whole. In the unity of the person, both aspects are intertwined: the body is alive and therefore also mindful; the mind is alive and therefore also truly embodied. Fuchs also demonstrates the importance of embodied cognition for psychiatry. This medical discipline is increasingly dominated by brain-centered research that focuses on drug treatment, deep-brain stimulation, and neuroenhancement designed only to change the person’s psyche. Fuchs argues that such an approach neglects both the embodied and relational structure of the human mind and risks rendering the patient dependent on mere technical support. Durable therapeutic changes can only be achieved through personal, i.e., embodied and interactive experiences—and these over time also influence the neuronal substrate through a circular interaction of ‘process’ and ‘structure.’