John Gray's The Immortalization Commission: The Strange Quest to Cheat Death raises vital questions about the 'truths' science can offer, the technology we are still exploiting for immortality - and exactly what it means to be human.
At the heart of all human experience lies our obsession with death. For many years, we turned to religion for our answers, but at the turn of the twentieth centuries ideas from evolution and politics seemed to suggest that our lives - and afterlives - were in our own hands.
These ideas would have both trivial and terrible effects, from the nightmares of H. G. Wells's science fiction and the wild, sweeping craze of séances to the murder of millions in the Stalinist terror.
'Our sharpest critic of utopian fantasies skewers the crazed but enduring dream of cheating age, time and death'
Boyd Tonkin, Independent
'Elegant ... He is on to something important regarding the delusion that science consists of indefinite progress'
Sunday Telegraph
'One of the most important and insightful polemicists currently writing in English... humanism's most vocal critic'
Financial Times
'Gray is an engaging writer, an entertaining historian and a controversialist whose opinions can never be taken for granted'
New Statesman
John Gray has been Professor of Politics at Oxford University, Visiting Professor at Harvard and Yale and Professor of European Thought at the London School of Economics. His books include False Dawn: The Delusions of Global Capitalism, Black Mass: Apocalyptic Religion and the Death of Utopia and Straw Dogs: Thoughts on Humans and Other Animals. His selected writings, Gray's Anatomy, was published in 2009.
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Book Description paperback. Condition: New. Language: ENG. Seller Inventory # 9780141041889
Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. A revelatory secret history of our delusional quest for immortalitySUNDAY TIMES, NEW STATESMAN and TLS BOOKS OF THE YEARAt the heart of all human experience lies our obsession with death. For many years we turned to religion for answers, but with the twentieth century came ideas from evolution and politics to suggest that our lives - and afterlives - were in our own hands. Such ideas went on to have both trivial and terrible effects- from a sweeping craze of seances to the mass-murders of the Stalinist terror.Gray raises vital questions about the 'truths' science can offer, the technology we are still exploiting for immortality - and exactly what it means to be human. At the heart of all human experience lies our obsession with death. This title raises questions about the 'truths' science can offer, the technology we are still exploiting for immortality - and exactly what it means to be human. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9780141041889
Book Description Condition: New. pp. 288. Seller Inventory # 9681531
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Book Description Paperback / softback. Condition: New. New copy - Usually dispatched within 4 working days. At the heart of all human experience lies our obsession with death. This title raises questions about the 'truths' science can offer, the technology we are still exploiting for immortality - and exactly what it means to be human. Seller Inventory # B9780141041889
Book Description Condition: New. 2012. Paperback. At the heart of all human experience lies our obsession with death. This title raises questions about the 'truths' science can offer, the technology we are still exploiting for immortality - and exactly what it means to be human. Num Pages: 288 pages. BIC Classification: HPK; HRQM2. Category: (G) General (US: Trade); (P) Professional & Vocational; (U) Tertiary Education (US: College). Dimension: 198 x 132 x 18. Weight in Grams: 216. . . . . . Books ship from the US and Ireland. Seller Inventory # V9780141041889
Book Description Condition: New. Seller Inventory # 13002534-n
Book Description Condition: New. 2012. Paperback. At the heart of all human experience lies our obsession with death. This title raises questions about the 'truths' science can offer, the technology we are still exploiting for immortality - and exactly what it means to be human. Num Pages: 288 pages. BIC Classification: HPK; HRQM2. Category: (G) General (US: Trade); (P) Professional & Vocational; (U) Tertiary Education (US: College). Dimension: 198 x 132 x 18. Weight in Grams: 216. . . . . . Seller Inventory # V9780141041889
Book Description Soft cover. Condition: New. Seller Inventory # 376