Donna Haraway's Human Cyborgs

In traditional philosophy, a human is limited based on categories like sex, race, orientation, and their abilities. One can see that these compositions are “building blocks” to the structure of that human. In contrast, the concepts of Posthumanism question the traditional ideals of what it is to be human. This school of thought rationalizes that we as humans are always changing and evolving with other forms of life and technology. In the book “Simians, Cyborgs, and Women; The Reinvention of Nature” the author, Donna Haraway, argues that we need to defy those categories that create and maintain that separation between our “selves” and others. This paper will explore Haraway’s ideals by surveying her book and relating her teachings to situations

that are relevant in today’s society, and agree that the human self is indeed a cyborg.
Posthumanism is multifaceted in its approach. On one side, it discusses the awareness that humans have now, and will continue, living with “adapted” bodies through the use of technology and the increase in scientific research (much like the ideals of Transhumanism). On the other side, it calls into question our power and cultural relationships between us and other living organisms. As discussed in class, Critical Posthumanism moves one to change their original methods of thinking on living beings. One must structure their opinions from being separate individuals, and instead consider themselves progressing with all other forms of life and their relationship with nature and technology. Therefore, humans must not be seen as the center of all things. Human existence is based on a congeries of relationships between other organisms on Earth. We are a hybrid of many different elements, and must understand that we are evolving our systems based on our relationships with these other beings. Haraway’s book builds off these principles, and attempts to relate them to a late 20th Century reader. She reworks the ideas of the what is the self in comparison to others, and how we fit in the “whole”, and instead wants humans to embrace what makes us different, and change our definition of what makes up “us”. Haraway’s metaphor for what a human is a cyborg.
Haraway’s theory on the human cyborg arises from the observation of how people were originally taught and programed to see people as constructs.

She states in her book that from the eighteenth through the twentieth century, these constructions were entrenched into the minds of many groups of people. These so called “marked bodies” with their constructs were separated from their other counterparts based on these descriptions. She argues that these marked humans have been the center of efforts to disrupt power and the culture of human society. (210) Her counter to this situation is the idea of the cyborg. The cyborg is conceived as our reality, one of socially constructed machines and other forms of life. Haraway’s use of this metaphor is to assist humans in developing our understanding and responsibility in our society. The philosopher Melissa Colleen Stevenson writes an analysis of cyborgs in contemporary society (specifically as it relates to women.) In her analysis, Stevenson views Haraway's cyborg as refuting essentialist connections as well as barriers between individuals, which in turn allows for the “…fruitful political alignment of diverse interest groups without insisting upon a monolithic understanding of “Women” or, indeed, the reification of any such identity categories.” (Stevenson 87) Certainly, in the situations and problems that face humans today, one can see people who are “breaking” out of their perceived abilities based on constructs given them, and

showing skills that would have otherwise been hidden or shunned. As recently as this month, the US Department of Defense is allowing women to act in combat roles, which have otherwise been only filled by men. The women seeking these roles have shown skill that does not fit with the traditional construct of what it is to be a woman, and are seeking to improve our defense efforts. Therefore, Haraway’s cyborg metaphor can be applied, and help us to understand that we are made up of much more than what we are constructed to be.
Haraway’s cyborg metaphor is the idea of reclassifying what is a human, however it is not her intent to remove the idea of the human body.

Bodies have instead become cyborgs. We, as humans, are a mix of organic and technological/scientific enhancement. She argues that “The cyborg is text, machine, body, and metaphor, all theorized and engaged in practice in terms of communications.” (212) Joseph Schneider, a professor of sociology at Drake University and a writer of many books about Donna Haraway, argues in his article that indeed, Haraway’s ideas were a radical redefinition of humanity, especially our relationships with other living beings. He does, however, reemphasis the limitations of the human body, and its susceptibleness to disease. His viral analysis calls into question the use of this manifesto to further the idea of human exceptionalism based on the improvement of technology. He warns that Haraway’s ideals were to keep the human “in the game” as an important being, even if not the most important or the most capable. (Schneider 300) The idea of the cyborg is profound, and has the potential to the change the construction of identity in a divided and inconsistent world. Our relations with new technologies and living beings are deviations from original expectations, jobs, and cultural needs. We should instead be aiming to change for the new requirements emerging in

society.