"后人類"這個術語于20世紀90年代正式進入人文主義和社會科學的當代批評話語體系;后人文主義理論是繼后結構主義、后現代主義、后現代文學倫理學批評之后另一種重要的后學。人文主義是一種集中在人的利益或價值的學說、看法或生活方式,尤其是一種通常拒絕超自然主義,強調個人的尊嚴、價值和通過理性而實現自我的哲學。而后人文主義作為一種哲學思潮,則以批判傳統人文主義為己任,主張"去人類中心化"。哲學后人文主義思想首先解構人文主義的基石"人"的概念,接著又向"人類中心論"和人的優越性發難,徹底終結了人的自大傳統。后人文主義提出了和諧共存的自然觀,主張合理開發利用高科技,恢復科技造福人類、維持社會可持續性發展的功能,倡導人類要關愛非人類,承認差異,包容并敬重他者,建構多元物種和諧共生的后人類社會。后人文主義理論不僅有助于揭示新興技術的內在政治,同時也為我們重新看待人與技術、人與動物、人與環境等的關系提供了一個全新的出發點、一種新型的研究方式。

The term "posthumanism" formally entered the system of contemporary critical discourse of humanism and social sciences in the 1990s. The theory of posthumanism is another important post-ism after post-structuralism, postmodernism and postmodern ethical literary criticism. Humanism was a doctrine, view, or mode of life focusing on man’s interests or values,above all a philosophy which usually rejects supernaturalism. It emphasizes dignity and values of the individual and realizes the self through reason. Posthumanism takes criticizing traditional humanism as its own duty and proposes "decentering human beings." Philosophical thought of posthumanism firstly deconstructs the concept of "man" as the footstone of humanism,then launches an attack on "anthropocentrism" and man’s superiority, and thoroughly ends man’s arrogant tradition. Posthumanism puts forward the conception of nature for harmonious coexistence, advocates reasonable exploitation and utilization of high technology, recovers the function of science and technology to benefit mankind and keep sustainable development of human society, and constructs a posthuman society in which the multiple species harmoniously coexist. The theory of posthumanism not only contributes to revealing the inherent politics of emerging technology but at the same time also provides for us a brand new starting point and a new-style research approach to look at the relations between human and technology, human and animals, human and environment anew.