Pramod K. Nayar is a member of the Department of English at the University of Hyderabad, India.

• ContentsAcknowledgements1. Revisiting the Human: Critical HumanismsTerms and DefinitionsCritical Humanisms and the Origins of Posthumanism2. Consciousness, Biology and the Necessity of AlterityCognition, Consciousness and AutopoiesisBiology, Systems and Systems BiologyDealing with/in Alterity3. The Body, ReformattedBiomedia, the Body Mathematized and Postvital LifeOther/ing BodiesThe Body as Congeries, Assemblage and Interface4. Absolute Monstrosities: The ‘Question of the Animal’Monster Theory: Cultures of OthernessAnimal Nature, Human NatureThe HumanimalSpeciesism5. Life Itself: The View from Disability Studies and BioethicsDisability Studies and the Norms of the ‘Human’Bioethics and Personhood6. Posthuman Visions: Toward Companion SpeciesPosthuman BiologyPosthumanist BiologyCompanion SpeciesConclusion: Posthumanism as Species CosmopolitanismBibliographyIndex

"Nayar has produced a clear and comprehensive survey and analysis of contemporary posthuman thought. He avoids the excessive reliance on jargon that often mars writing on this topic, and treats the competing views he discusses with an even and incisive hand."Robert Pepperell, Cardiff School of Art & Design"Posthumanism is a coming-of-age book for studies of science, technology, and culture. It brings together the most crucial considerations of current debates about the status of the posthuman and, in so doing, beautifully weaves together their political history and current relevance when thinking through this complex terrain."Andy Miah, University of the West of Scotland"Nayar proves an effective and expert guide to critical posthumanist perspectives on such topics as gender relations, post-colonialism and disability. […] The final chapter enters a plea for a 'species cosmopolitanism' in which humans abandon their efforts to identify non-humans in opposition to and subjection to humans but learn to respect the multiple affiliations with non-human entities such as technologies and non-human life forms."Philosophical Quarterly"Nayar concludes his exploration of the posthuman by stating that '[o]nce we accept that we are difference, perhaps we will cease to be worried about difference as Other' (p. 156). This statement draws to a close his wide ranging study of critical posthumanism and sounds a positive note for those who might fear difference without recognising the fact that, in the twenty-first century, we are all, in effect, Other." Journal of Gender Studies