Transhumanism Flashcards
Julian Huxley
‘The human species can, if it wishes, transcend itself … We need a name for this new belief. Perhaps transhumanism will serve: man remaining man, but transcending himself, by realizing new possibilities of and for his human nature.’
Ray Kurzweil
‘[We will] transcend these limitations of our biological bodies and brains. We will gain power over our fates. Our mortality will be in our own hands.’
Three components of transhumanism
Metaphysical - Human beings are living in a world run by evolutionary processes. These push life toward evermore complex structures, forms, and operations
Psychological - Human beings are imbued with some innate will to evolve. This is a particular drive to expand our abilities in pursuit of longer survival and greater well-being
Ethical - Encouraging followers to actively pursue the alleged betterment of the human species via transhumanist methods
Transhumanism tends to involve… (3)
Extending life potentially indefinitely
Enhancing current human bodies and minds
Enhancing future generations
Brian Johnson
Developed ‘Blueprint’, a rigid lifestyle plan that involves:
Strict diet
Strict sleep regimen
Strict exercise regimen
Monitoring the body extensively
Believes he is bringing about the most significant development in human evolution ever
Julian Savulescu
- ‘Some non-disease genes affect the likelihood of us leading the best life;
- We have a reason to use information which is available about such genes in our reproductive decision-making;
- Couples should select embryos or fetuses which are most likely to have the best life, based on available genetic information, including information about non-disease genes. I will also argue that we should allow selection for non-disease genes even if this maintains or increases social inequality.’
Cochlear Implants
Originally developed to assist those with hearing impairments
Exemplify the blurring of therapeutic and enhancement boundaries (should they be like glasses?)
While restoring lost function, they also raise questions about identity, access, and the redefinition of human ability
Their economic benefits include enabling fuller participation in education and employment
Many people refuse them for various reasons about cultural identity, ableism, and the perceived threat to Deaf culture
Braces
Example of health vs plastic surgery/enhancement
The distinction between treatment and enhancement - issues (3)
What is ‘normal’?
Who gets to decide the baseline?
Slippery slope: we usually start with treatment and then move on to enhancement
Descriptive questions
Do these treatments work?
Are they safe?
Evaluative questions
Should we be trying to augment human psychology and physiology?
Socioeconomics - In Favour
We already enhance ourselves all the time (coffee, medication, clothing), what is so different about transhumanism?
Enhancing human capacities through biomedical or technological means could increase subjective well-being and generate economic benefits by producing healthier, longer-living, and more productive citizens
Nick Bostrom
Argues that enhancement technologies have the potential to mitigate suffering and improve life satisfaction
Views transhumanism as a moral imperative under the principle of beneficence
Theology - In Favour
A way to overcome fallenness and achieve Edenic perfection
Transformation has always been part of the Christian story
Imago Dei – we, created in God’s image, strive toward divine likeness
Genesis 1:26-27
‘Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness…’ So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them’
1 Corinthians 15:51–52
‘Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet’
Jennifer Knosed
Arguably, the Bible begins as a speciesist manifesto – only humanity is created in the image of the divine;
However, the Bible also contains multiple moments of disruption, boundary crossing, and category confusion;
Animals speak, God becomes man, spirits haunt the living, and monsters confound at the end;
All of these stories explore the boundaries of the human in ways that destabilise the very category of the human;
All of these stories engage thinking that broadly falls under the umbrella term posthumanism’
Eschatology
Christian eschatology envisions a future transformation of humanity, which some see as compatible with transhumanist aspirations toward bodily and cognitive enhancement
Transhumanist efforts to eliminate suffering, disease, and death echo eschatological hopes
Eschatology - examples
E.g. Cryonics or digital consciousness replication can be interpreted (symbolically) as secular analogues to resurrection hope in 1 Corinthians 15
E.g. Genetic editing used to eradicate hereditary diseases may echo Isaiah’s eschatological vision of a world free of suffering (Isaiah 11:6–9)
Isaiah 11:6–9
A picture of the utopian future brought by the Messiah
God’s role
Technological attempts to achieve paradise on earth risk supplanting God’s role in salvation
Idolatrous?
Romans 8:19-21
‘For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God… in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.’
Ted Peters
While eschatological transformation is God’s work, humans may be called to ethically participate in their own evolutionary and spiritual development, provided it remains rooted in humility and divine dependence
Socioeconomics - Against
Reinforce social divides
Worsen inequality between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’
Cosmetic Surgery is a good example of this already happening
Economic marginalisation of those who cannot afford or ethically oppose enhancement
Francis Fukuyama
Fukuyama critiques transhumanism for its potential to destabilise economic and political institutions by creating new elite classes and displacing labour
‘Biotechnology could alter the social basis of democracy… enhanced individuals might claim superiority over the unenhanced’
Richard Dawkins’ Question
‘If you can breed cattle for milk yield, horses for running speed, and dogs for herding skill, why on Earth should it be impossible to breed humans for mathematical, musical or athletic ability?… I wonder whether, some 60 years after Hitler’s death, we might at least venture to ask what the moral difference is between breeding for musical ability and forcing a child to take music lessons. Or why it is acceptable to train fast runners and high jumpers but not to breed them. I can think of some answers, and they are good ones, which would probably end up persuading me. But hasn’t the time come when we should stop being frightened even to put the question?’
Eugenics - Against
The eugenics movement of the early 20th century led to forced sterilizations, racial discrimination, and genocide; transhumanism may repeat this history by encouraging ideas of genetic ‘fitness’ and ‘superiority’
Eugenics undermines the principle that all humans have equal moral worth
Past eugenics programs often involved coercion
Jürgen Habermas
Genetic enhancement could lead to a revival of eugenic thinking
Francis Fukuyama - E
Fukuyama argues that transhumanism risks reintroducing a form of ‘genetic classism’
Theology - Against (6)
Disrupting nature’s teleology
‘Playing God’
What is our role? To have dominion over nature, to steward nature, to create?
Fallenness and sin make humanity untrustworthy in matters of self-creation
Eschatology: one cannot rise again if one does not die
Traditional Christian theology views suffering, aging, and death not simply as evils to be eradicated, but as conditions that shape spiritual growth, humility, and dependence on God
John Hick
Iranaean theodicy, vale of soul-making
Job 38:4
‘Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding’
Expresses the danger of human arrogance when claiming god-like control over life
Brent Waters
Transhumanism erodes Christian moral anthropology and the communal dimensions of embodied life
Imago Dei
If rationality or embodiment is central to imago dei, cognitive enhancements or cybernetics could undermine this doctrine
Human form is sacred and loved by God as it is
Function vs relational vs structural/substantative (+consequences)
Imago Dei analysis
Some argue enhancement aligns with humanity’s God-given dominion (functional imago dei), if used ethically
Functional could be about creative co-creators
Posthumanism may disrupt humanity’s capacity for relationship with God, a key aspect of relational imago dei
C. S. Lewis
The Abolition of Man (1943)
Critiques the rise of ‘scientific’ education, which aims to manipulate human nature and emotions through objective, detached reasoning, laying the groundwork for transhumanist ideals
He identifies the ‘will to power’ as the core motivation behind this drive, where human beings seek to control and reshape life according to their own desires, disregarding divine purpose and moral order
Such advancements ultimately reduce humanity to mere objects to be controlled, robbing individuals of autonomy and dignity granted by God’s natural order
Gerald McKenny
Examines transhumanism through Aquinas’ framework, arguing the highest human good is knowledge of God, which requires divine grace, not technological enhancement
Contrasts Christian transcendence (through divine grace) with transhumanist transcendence (via technology)
Radical technological enhancement risks creating a ‘posthuman’ state
Human vulnerabilities are intrinsic to our nature and should not be eradicated, as they foster dependence on divine grace
Brent Waters
Posthumanism erodes the distinctiveness of humans as God’s image-bearers by merging them with technology
Advocates for accepting natural limitations as divinely ordained
Argues transhumanism fosters pride (contrasting Philippians 2:6-11) by seeking to ‘improve’ rather than humble humanity
Philippians 2:6-11
‘…And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name…’
Ronald Cole-Turner
Posits Christianity as an ‘original transhumanism,’ advocating for human improvement through divine communion, as seen in Dante’s Divine Comedy
Compares transhumanist technologies to evolutionary theory - both can be framed as instruments of God’s ongoing creative work
Links transhumanist goals to biblical promises of imperishable bodies
Philip Hefner
‘Created co-creators’ (relational imago dei)
Views humans as divinely mandated to use technology responsibly, blending creativity with theological obedience
Human dignity lies in shaping our technological narrative, aligning with God’s creative purposes
Rejects static definitions of humanity, seeing enhancement as part of God’s evolutionary design
Technological progress must serve communal flourishing, not just individual ambition
