The Postmortal Condition: From the Biomedical Deconstruction of Death to the Extension of Longevity

摘要

Deferring death, addressing its causes, altering its boundaries, controlling all of its parameters and understanding its process in order to prolong life as long as possible or even surpass the temporal limits of human existence-such is the objective that the scientific and political authorities are pursuing so doggedly that health has become one of our societies' major concerns. Starting with the biomedical deconstruction of death, this article will look at the new technoscientific representations of death and longevity. In the theoretical extension of the theses on biopower and bioeconomics, particular attention will be paid to the issue of the perfectibility and the reengineering of the body, as expressed in the life extension movement and in discourses accompanying biomedical advances. This permeates the theoretical debates surrounding genetic immortality, the development of regenerative medicine and of nanomedicine, artificial prolongation of life and cryonics. Drawing a parallel between the status of older people and biomedical advances' fight against ageing, this article will investigate the social and ethical consequences of this marked desire to conquer death scientifically, to live without ageing and even to extend life indefinitely.