Open Access Library Journal 2017, Volume 4, e4033 ISSN Online: 2333-9721 ISSN Print: 2333-9705 DOI: 10.4236/oalib.1104033 Nov. 16, 2017 1 Open Access Library Journal From Enlightenment to Cyborgs Claudio Messori Str. Villaggio Prinzera 1, Fraz. Boschi di Bardone, Terenzo, Italy Abstract The decline of the feudal system and the progressive rise of the medieval bourgeoisie to power roles and government functions, leads the West (17 th century) to theorize and assume a materialistic, reductionist and mechanistic model of thought, based on a privileged, tendentially exclusive, relationship with Science (Galilean scientific method), technique and technology. This pa- per takes into account the historical, sociological, and anthropological ele- ments (such as the unlimited perfectibility of humanity advocated by the French Enlightenment and the mechanization of the production cycle envi- saged by English proto-liberalism) of this paradigmatic revolution, which more than others help us understanding the causal process that led to con- temporary techno-centrism 4.0. It is highlighted that thanks to the interweav- ing between the ideals of the French Enlightenment, with its two souls (Natu- rophilus and Technophilus), and the Anglo-Saxon entrepreneurial foresight (proved successful with the Industrial Revolution 1.0), takes shape the Posi- tivist paradigm, and with it the Positivist secular religion, whose affirmation and diffusion generate a stream of widely shared thought throughout the West, i.e. Eugenics, which radicalizes the most ambivalent (pseudo-scientific) and reactionary (philocolonialist) instances of Enlightenment and Positivism, leading to a series of crimes against the person and against humanity, which will result in the mass eliminations conducted, in particular but not only, by Nazi-fascism and Stalinism (two totalitarian regimes that share the same Posi- tivist roots and the same passion for Eugenics thought). It is highlighted that the heart of the industrialization process begins to throb in factories, where the introduction of mechanical systems into the production cycle triggers the man-machine integration process, which soon becomes the fulcrum, the eco- nomic, social and cultural driving factor of the western civilization. It will be thanks to the evolution of the mechanical systems employed in the production chains and to the establishment of the Liberalist economic model, that be- tween the second and third Industrial Revolution consolidates the alliance between academic, industrial and military (the academic/industrial/military iron triangle). An alliance destined to play a decisive role in the two World How to cite this paper: Messori, C. (2017) From Enlightenment to Cyborgs. Open Access Library Journal, 4: e4033. https://doi.org/10.4236/oalib.1104033 Received: October 14, 2017 Accepted: November 14, 2017 Published: November 16, 2017 Copyright © 2017 by author and Open Access Library Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY 4.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Open Access