David Pearce

British transhumanist David Pearce

David Pearce is co-founder of the World Transhumanist Association, currently rebranded as Humanity+, Inc., and a prominent figure within the transhumanism movement. He is a philosopher, vegan and writer on transhumanist and ethical subjects and an advocate of abolitionism.

Based in Brighton, England, Pearce maintains a series of websites devoted to transhumanist topics and what he calls "The Hedonistic Imperative", a moral obligation to work towards the abolition of suffering in all sentient life. His book-length internet manifesto, The Hedonistic Imperative (1995), outlines how pharmacology, genetic engineering, nanotechnology and neurosurgery could converge to eliminate all forms of unpleasant experience from human and non-human life, replacing suffering with "gradients of bliss". Pearce calls this the "abolitionist project."

He is an advocate of superhappiness, synthetic meat and drug liberalisation. He defends a form of negative hedonistic utilitarianism. He is the subject of a mini documentary made by Adam Ford.

Pearce has answered more than 400 questions on Quora, and his answers have been viewed more than three quarters of a million times.

Pearce has over 100,000 followers on Twitter, making him, by one assessment, the fourth most popular philosopher on that site.

A collection of essays by Pearce is available in the book "Can Biotechnology Abolish Suffering?"

External links

• david-pearce.com
• hedweb.com
• neuroethics.com - a Patreon site whereby Pearce's supporters can provide financial backing
• Interview with David Pearce on Transhumanism
• 'Superhappiness' - a mini documentary featuring David Pearce
• Future Grind Ep. 43 - David Pearce on Ending Suffering
• David Pearce (philosopher) on Wikipedia
• webmasterdave on Twitter