Abstract
This chapter reflects on transhumanism from a Christian perspective, specifically with reference to the Biblical teaching that human beings are made in the “image” and “likeness” of God. It considers a version of that teaching that is seemingly as permissive as could be about “transhumanist technologies,” and concludes that even that version places significant limits on the pursuit and adoption of such technologies. Those limits are far more restrictive than the limits (if any) acknowledged by prominent transhumanists, particularly those with a specific focus on proposals aimed at substantially lengthening the average human lifespan.
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Notes
- 1.
Young , Designer Evolution, 20.
- 2.
Peters , “Progress and Provolution Will Transhumanism Leave Sin Behind?” in Cole-Turner , Transhumanism and Transcendence, 63–86.
- 3.
Keenan, James F., “Roman Catholic Christianity—Embodiment and Relationality: Roman Catholic Concerns about Transhumanist Proposals,” in Mercer and Maher , Transhumanism and the Body, 155–172.
- 4.
E.g., Max More, “Why Catholics Should Support the Transhumanist Goal of Extended Life,” in Vaccaro , L’ultimo esorcismo.
- 5.
Bostrom , “Introduction—The Transhumanist FAQ: A General Introduction,” in Mercer and Maher , Transhumanism and the Body, 11–17.
- 6.
Matthew 22:30.
- 7.
This division follows Erickson , Christian Theology, 520–527. Cf. Middleton , The Liberating Image.
- 8.
Cairns , The Image of God in Man, 110.
- 9.
Barr , Biblical Faith and Natural Theology, 158.
- 10.
Barth , Church Dogmatics, §3.1.195.
- 11.
Ibid., §3.1.198.
- 12.
Ibid., §3.2.324.
- 13.
Soltoveitchik , The Lonely Man of Faith, 39–40.
- 14.
Clines , “The Image of God in Man.”
- 15.
Ibid., 101.
- 16.
Ibid., 96.
- 17.
Gardoski , “The Imago Dei Revisited.”
- 18.
E.g., Middleton , The Liberating Image, 45ff.
- 19.
Bostrom , “Transhumanist Values,” 4.
- 20.
Stock and Callahan , “Point-Counterpoint: Would Doubling the Human Life Span be a Net Positive or Negative for Us either as Individuals or as a Society?”
- 21.
Bostrom , “Human Genetic Enhancements: A Transhumanist Perspective.”
- 22.
More, Max, “Why Catholics Should Support the Transhumanist Goal of Extended Life,” in Vaccaro , L’ultimo esorcismo.
- 23.
Bostrom , “Human Genetic Enhancements: A Transhumanist Perspective.”
- 24.
E.g., Zoltan Istvan, “When Does Hindering Life Extension Science Become a Crime?”
- 25.
Bostrom , “The Fable of the Dragon-Tyrant,” 277.
- 26.
Acts 4:12 (New American Bible, Revised Edition).
- 27.
Bostrom , “The Fable of the Dragon-Tyrant.”
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Dickson, M. (2018). The Imago Dei and the Imago Mundi. In: Donaldson, S., Cole-Turner, R. (eds) Christian Perspectives on Transhumanism and the Church. Palgrave Studies in the Future of Humanity and its Successors. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90323-1_6
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