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Jønathan Lyons

University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia, Sociology, Graduate Student

Bucknell University, College Core Curriculum, Faculty Member

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Jønathan Lyons is an assistant professor at Bucknell University, an affiliate scholar for the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, and an advisor to the Lifeboat Foundation. He is also an author of several volumes of experimental fiction.

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Dalhousie University

King's College London

University of Cologne

University of Kansas

Nicola Masciandaro

Brooklyn College of CUNY

Thomás A S Haddad

Universidade de São Paulo

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Muhlenberg College

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National Research University Higher School of Economics

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Università degli Studi di Firenze (University of Florence)

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Papers by Jønathan Lyons

Essays on Personhood and Transhumanism/H+

Institute For Ethics and Emerging Technologies, 2012

Who, or what, is a person? Speciesism and Substrate Chauvinism.pdf

Was Helen O’Loy a person, or merely a thing?.pdf

Transhumanist Papa: a talk with my six-month-old son

To MindfileMe, or Not to MindfileMe

The Smallpox Dilemma

Over the past few weeks, a question we have faced before as a species reared its head once again:... more Over the past few weeks, a question we have faced before as a species reared its head once again: Should we destroy the last known samples of smallpox on Earth? The answer might seem obvious, may not even seem to require a second thought: Of course we eradicate smallpox! What good is it? One question I would ask in response is: What kind of species do we want to be?

The Puzzle of Personhood

Who or what is a person? Who qualifies, and who decides who qualifies?

The Personhood of the Technologically/Differently Sentient

Around the world, a handful of projects are in the process, specifically, of attempting to duplic... more Around the world, a handful of projects are in the process, specifically, of attempting to duplicate, simulate, or in some way technologically reproduce the human brain. And we, as a species, do not appear to be even remotely prepared for the implications that success from those projects could bring.

The Networked Species.pdf

Humankind is frequently referred to as a toolusing/making species. What is becoming clear is that... more Humankind is frequently referred to as a toolusing/making species. What is becoming clear is that we are also a species with a real talent and drive for greater integration with our tools and with one another. Humankind is an increasingly networked species. And while this is a teleological essay, I am not prepared to make an argument that what we are witnessing is necessarily either a good or bad thing.

Personhood: the Thrones We Place Ourselves Upon

In my last in this series on personhood, I mentioned that in attempting to consider how to value ... more In my last in this series on personhood, I mentioned that in attempting to consider how to value other beings, for my own purposes, I settled long ago on a simple, defining characteristic: For my interactions with other beings, I ask whether they can experience pain. If they can experience pain, I have decided to do my best not to inflict pain upon them. That has worked for me, and it is something each person must decide for zirself (see note at end of this article). This view is informed by the writings of bioethicist philosophers Peter Singer and Jeremy Bentham, who espouse a philosophy toward other beings that considers whether they can suffer, rather than whether they can reason. Where one comes down on such a standard is entirely up to oneself. I've found my standard, and I have tried my best to live by it, but that doesn't mean that I think that anyone who doesn't live by that same judgment is " bad, " or less moral, only that zir standards on that differ from my own. And the fact that that our judgments differ on such decisions is a reasonable expectation. But Dr. Martine Rothblatt, in the amazing article/interview " Transgender, Transhuman, Transbeman, " takes consideration of how a being should be treated for another, greater leap, and it threw me on my ear because it made me realize that my way of thinking of things was, in fact, too simple. She " has taken from English Bioethicist John Harris the idea that that which values itself should be so valued, whether it be an ape or an artificial intelligence. She thinks this is a more useful guide than Jeremy Bentham's derivation of rights from the ability to suffer. " While the classifications system I seek to develop here for consideration of personhood is still valid, consideration of a being's ability to suffer — by which before I generally meant zir ability to suffer physical pain — doesn't cut it.

My strategies for longevity.pdf

My H+ Shopping List - Six Excellent Upgrade Items Available Now.pdf

Mindplexing - Cooperative, Shared, Distributed Collaboration between Networked Minds.pdf

Mindplexing, the notion of a hive mind, and the power of distributed, shared intelligence.

Is it Time for an Enhanced Olympics?.pdf

Inception: Lucid Dreaming as Radical Life Extension.pdf

How will religious institutions cope with technological immortality?.pdf

Advances in technology have threatened the confidence and existence of religious institutions in ... more

How Do We Judge Nonhuman Beings’ Personhood?.pdf

Who or what is a person? Who qualifies, and who decides who qualifies?

Futurism: Go Big.pdf

Elon Musk wants 1,000,000 human colonists on Mars as a precaution against the extinction of our s... more

Determining Personhood: Not Black & White, But Many Shades of Gray.pdf

Who or what is a person? Who qualifies, and who decides who qualifies? The answers areb't as simp... more

Abolition is Imperative in Kurzweil’s Sixth Epoch Scenario.pdf

If our future as a species evolves along the lines of predictions made by Dr. Ray Kurzweil, all e... more

Essays on Personhood and Transhumanism/H+

Institute For Ethics and Emerging Technologies, 2012

Who, or what, is a person? Speciesism and Substrate Chauvinism.pdf

Was Helen O’Loy a person, or merely a thing?.pdf

Transhumanist Papa: a talk with my six-month-old son

To MindfileMe, or Not to MindfileMe

The Smallpox Dilemma

Over the past few weeks, a question we have faced before as a species reared its head once again:... more Over the past few weeks, a question we have faced before as a species reared its head once again: Should we destroy the last known samples of smallpox on Earth? The answer might seem obvious, may not even seem to require a second thought: Of course we eradicate smallpox! What good is it? One question I would ask in response is: What kind of species do we want to be?

The Puzzle of Personhood

Who or what is a person? Who qualifies, and who decides who qualifies?

The Personhood of the Technologically/Differently Sentient

Around the world, a handful of projects are in the process, specifically, of attempting to duplic... more Around the world, a handful of projects are in the process, specifically, of attempting to duplicate, simulate, or in some way technologically reproduce the human brain. And we, as a species, do not appear to be even remotely prepared for the implications that success from those projects could bring.

The Networked Species.pdf

Humankind is frequently referred to as a toolusing/making species. What is becoming clear is that... more Humankind is frequently referred to as a toolusing/making species. What is becoming clear is that we are also a species with a real talent and drive for greater integration with our tools and with one another. Humankind is an increasingly networked species. And while this is a teleological essay, I am not prepared to make an argument that what we are witnessing is necessarily either a good or bad thing.

Personhood: the Thrones We Place Ourselves Upon

In my last in this series on personhood, I mentioned that in attempting to consider how to value ... more In my last in this series on personhood, I mentioned that in attempting to consider how to value other beings, for my own purposes, I settled long ago on a simple, defining characteristic: For my interactions with other beings, I ask whether they can experience pain. If they can experience pain, I have decided to do my best not to inflict pain upon them. That has worked for me, and it is something each person must decide for zirself (see note at end of this article). This view is informed by the writings of bioethicist philosophers Peter Singer and Jeremy Bentham, who espouse a philosophy toward other beings that considers whether they can suffer, rather than whether they can reason. Where one comes down on such a standard is entirely up to oneself. I've found my standard, and I have tried my best to live by it, but that doesn't mean that I think that anyone who doesn't live by that same judgment is " bad, " or less moral, only that zir standards on that differ from my own. And the fact that that our judgments differ on such decisions is a reasonable expectation. But Dr. Martine Rothblatt, in the amazing article/interview " Transgender, Transhuman, Transbeman, " takes consideration of how a being should be treated for another, greater leap, and it threw me on my ear because it made me realize that my way of thinking of things was, in fact, too simple. She " has taken from English Bioethicist John Harris the idea that that which values itself should be so valued, whether it be an ape or an artificial intelligence. She thinks this is a more useful guide than Jeremy Bentham's derivation of rights from the ability to suffer. " While the classifications system I seek to develop here for consideration of personhood is still valid, consideration of a being's ability to suffer — by which before I generally meant zir ability to suffer physical pain — doesn't cut it.

My strategies for longevity.pdf

My H+ Shopping List - Six Excellent Upgrade Items Available Now.pdf

Mindplexing - Cooperative, Shared, Distributed Collaboration between Networked Minds.pdf

Mindplexing, the notion of a hive mind, and the power of distributed, shared intelligence.

Is it Time for an Enhanced Olympics?.pdf

Inception: Lucid Dreaming as Radical Life Extension.pdf

How will religious institutions cope with technological immortality?.pdf

Advances in technology have threatened the confidence and existence of religious institutions in ... more

How Do We Judge Nonhuman Beings’ Personhood?.pdf

Who or what is a person? Who qualifies, and who decides who qualifies?

Futurism: Go Big.pdf

Elon Musk wants 1,000,000 human colonists on Mars as a precaution against the extinction of our s... more

Determining Personhood: Not Black & White, But Many Shades of Gray.pdf

Who or what is a person? Who qualifies, and who decides who qualifies? The answers areb't as simp... more

Abolition is Imperative in Kurzweil’s Sixth Epoch Scenario.pdf

If our future as a species evolves along the lines of predictions made by Dr. Ray Kurzweil, all e... more