A p e e r-re vie we d e le c tro nic jo urna l p ub lishe d b y the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies ISSN 1541-0099
Vo l. 14 - Aug ust 2005
Religion and Transhumanism: Introducing a Conversation Heidi Campbell De p a rtme nt o f Co mmunic a tio n, Te xa s A&M Unive rsity hc a mp b e 1@ ya ho o .c o .uk
Mark Walker Trinity Co lle g e , Unive rsity o f To ro nto De p a rtme nt o f Philo so p hy, Mc Ma ste r Unive rsity ma rk@ p e rma ne nte nd .o rg
Why a Dialogue between Transhumanism and Faith? In b ro a d e st te rms, tra nshuma nism is the vie w tha t huma ns sho uld (o r sho uld b e p e rmitte d to ) use te c hno lo g y to re ma ke huma n na ture (Bo stro m, 2001, Wa lke r, 2002b ). It is b e lie ve d tha t thro ug h ste m c e ll te c hno lo g y, g e ne tic e ng ine e ring a nd na no te c hno lo g y the p o ssib ility e xists tha t this c e ntury we mig ht b e a b le to g re a tly e nha nc e the he a lthy life sp a n o f p e rso ns, inc re a se inte llig e nc e , a nd so me wo uld a rg ue , ma ke o urse lve s ha p p ie r, a nd mo re virtuo us (Pie rc e , 1996; Wa lke r, 2003; Hug he s, 2004). Ce ntra l to tra nshuma nism is the re -c o nte xtua lizing o f huma nity in te rms o f its te c hno lo g y; it re p re se nts a d rive to wa rd s te c hno lo g ic a l e xp lo ra tio n into the e nha nc e me nt o f the huma n c o nd itio n. In a n e ra o f inc re a sing inno va tio ns in info rma tio na l a nd b io te c hno lo g ie s, tra nshuma nism p re se nts a ra d ic a l vie w o f o ur future wo rld : the me rg ing o f huma nity with te c hno lo g y a s the ne xt sta g e o f o ur huma n e vo lutio n—we ha ve the o p p o rtunity to b e c o me so me thing mo re tha n huma n. The id e a o f b e c o ming mo re tha n huma n is o fte n d isc usse d und e r the rub ric o f a “ p o sthuma n future ”. It is sug g e ste d tha t p o sthuma ns will ha ve a d va nc e d me nta l, p hysic a l a nd mo ra l c a p a b ilitie s—b e yo nd a nything tha t huma ns p re se ntly c a n o b ta in. So me a rg ue tha t a p o sthuma n future c a n b e se e n simp ly a s a lo g ic a l b y-p ro d uc t o f o ur te c hno lo g y d rive n so c ie ty; o the rs a rg ue tha t this is to o ve rlo o k the e no rmo us e thic a l imp lic a tio ns a nd c ha lle ng e s o f suc h a n e ve nt (Wa lke r, 2002b ). No t surp rising ly, the p o te ntia l te c hno lo g ic a l mo d ific a tio n o f huma nity e sp e c ia lly e lic its c o nc e rn fro m p e o p le who c o me fro m a fa ith p e rsp e c tive o r sp iritua l wo rld vie w. At the he a rt o f the tra nshuma nist p ro je c t is a n inte rp re ta tio n (o r re -inte rp re ta tio n) o f wha t it me a ns to b e
Jo urna l o f Evo lutio n a nd Te c hno lo g y 14(2) Aug ust 2005
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