The Human-Sovereignty Transhumanist Manifesto

The Human-Sovereignty Transhumanist Manifesto presents a public ethical and political declaration for technological progress under conditions of human sovereignty. It affirms humanity’s freedom to use science and technology to overcome biological limitations, expand human capabilities and pursue new forms of existence, while rejecting any future in which governments, corporations, artificial intelligences or other institutions acquire control over the human body, mind, identity or evolutionary direction.

The manifesto establishes twelve foundational axioms addressing human sovereignty, freedom of enhancement, freedom of refusal, informed and continuing consent, cognitive liberty, mental and biological privacy, meaningful human control, technological transparency, continuity of identity, equal moral status, responsibility to future generations and accountability for technological power.

It also defines the rights of enhanced and unenhanced persons, the duties of governments and corporations, the responsibilities of technologists and an explicit opposition to coercive enhancement. Its central principle is that technological advancement should expand human agency without converting human beings into objects, products or property.

This Version 1.0 is the first public edition of the manifesto. It builds upon Herbert R. Sim’s original formulation of Human-Sovereignty Transhumanism in 2014 and provides the philosophical foundation for the subsequent Human-Sovereignty Transhumanism Protocol Standard (HSTP).

Founding Author: Herbert R. Sim
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-6500-5749
Original publication date: 26 July 2026
Version: 1.0
Canonical webpage: https://herbertrsim.com/human-sovereignty-transhumanist-manifesto/
Licence: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)