Francis Fukuyama famously called the movement known as ‘transhumanism,’ “the world’s most dangerous idea.”^* Not all of the six authors featured in the June 2008 Global Spiral Special Issue on Transhumanism went as far as this.  But as a group their writings expressed concerns, sometimes strident, over future technologies aimed at enhancing the biological makeup of the human person, even to the point where a new posthuman species might emerge.  Moreover, the works featured in this past issue challenged not only the technologies themselves, but the philosophical worldview that appears to embolden their pursuit.

In this February 2009 special issue of The Global Spiral, “H+: Transhumanism Answers Its Critics,” ten of the foremost thinkers in the transhumanist movement rise to accept that challenge.  While the June 2008 issue focused on the problems and perils that its authors viewed as inherent in transhumanist thinking, the incisive articles in this issue highlight what its authors take to be the movement’s potentials and promises.  The ten authors in “H+” envision a dynamic humanity, one that harnesses the potency of creation to propel us toward human actualization, and beyond.

The Global Spiral, like Metanexus Institute, is dedicated to transdisciplinary exploration of humanity’s most profound questions and challenges.  It is difficult to imagine a more profound question than whether or not we should alter the fundamental makeup of the human person.  But it is equally difficult to imagine more profound challenges than those that—as this issue’s authors warn—threaten the very existence of the human species.  In publishing this response issue, The Global Spiral seeks something like the Aristotelian mean between extremes:  A middle way can be forged between the traditions that ground us and the innovations that free us.

—The Editors