David Pearce wrote the philosophical case for abolishing suffering entirely. His 1995 online manifesto "The Hedonistic Imperative" argued that biotechnology, genetic engineering, and nanotechnology could eliminate all forms of unpleasant experience in human and animal life, replacing the current pain-pleasure axis with gradients of well-being. Pearce co-founded the World Transhumanist Association (now Humanity+) with Nick Bostrom in 1998, helping to build transhumanism into an organized intellectual movement. His "abolitionist" project goes further than life extension or cognitive enhancement: it targets the biological substrates of suffering itself, arguing that pain is an engineering problem inherited from evolution and that a post-Darwinian civilization has no reason to preserve it. Where most transhumanists focus on what we can gain, Pearce focuses on what we can finally remove.
Key contributions
- Authored "The Hedonistic Imperative," the case for abolishing suffering
- Co-founded the World Transhumanist Association (Humanity+) with Nick Bostrom
- Developed the abolitionist project targeting biological substrates of suffering
- Argued for paradise engineering through biotechnology and genetic modification
Quotes (2)
“Over the next thousand years or so, the biological substrates of suffering will be eradicated completely.”
The Hedonistic Imperative · 1995
“Post-Darwinian life can be animated by gradients of intelligent bliss.”
The Hedonistic Imperative · 1995