What MAKEs a person? Theological issues raised by transhumanism

1. What MAKEs a person? Theological issues raised by transhumanism Albertus Conference 2013 Harry WaltonPhD Candidate

2. It is based on the premise that the human species in its current formdoes not represent the end of our development but rather a comparatively early phase. • “… the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Matthew 26:41 (NIV) • By re-envisioning the human body as a work-in-progress,transhumanists reject the idea that physical limitations should separate people from their aspirations. • Faith is placed in technology as the means by which humanscan transcend the human condition. • An international movement committed to improving the human condition by developing and making widely available technologies that can eliminate disease and disability, and also greatly enhance human mental and physical capacities. What is transhumanism? Over the hill at 25?

3. Transcending the human condition via therapy and enhancement • Pharmacology • Biotechnology • Nanotechnology • Prosthetics • Computer Integration Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis Performance enhancers used by athletes Cognitive enhancers used by students Lance Armstrong – dope or pioneer? The Hayflick Limit

4. Pharmacology • Biotechnology • Nanotechnology • Prosthetics • Computer Integration  Nanoscale A possible ‘posthuman’ Jerry Jalava’s “thumb drive” Cardiac Pacemaker Cochlear Implant Maintenance-bot Pillbox Oscar Pistorius – South Africa’s “Blade Runner” Matrix Style Mind Upload Harbisson’s superhuman range of perception Respirocyte Neil Harbisson – the cyborg with the ‘eyeborg’ Jens Naumann’sbrain-computer interface

5. Transhumanist discourse as…“…the adolescent speculations…[of] biologists and engineers intoxicated by science fiction.” - Jürgen HabermasThe Future of Human Nature (2003, 15)

6. Technologies used for curative purposes generally fall within the logic of the Christian moral tradition. • Pope John Paul II consistently supported technologies aimed at preventing disease and restoring health. • Christ spent his time healing the afflicted, and Christians should emulate his example. Therapy vs. enhancement in the Christian moral tradition Thumbs up from John Paul II

7. The image of god Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. - Genesis 1:26-27 The Image of God might be… Reflected in the rational human soul Instantiated by our duties as stewards and co-creators Reflected in the human physical form Christological in essence Can we enhance the image of God?

8. Theologically speaking, the proper destiny of human beings is to be glorified/divinized in Christ. • This is the venerable doctrine of theosis or ‘deification’. • “God became man that man might become god” Salvation in Christianity and transhumanism

9. Both Christianity and Transhumanism share… • Longing for Transformation • Longing for Eden Transhumanist ‘salvation’ might be seen as… • An attempt at recreating Eden • An attempt at turning humans into gods • An attempt at immanentizing the eschaton • An attempt at saving humanity from finitude and mortality And the LORD God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” - Genesis 3:22 Salvation in Christianity and transhumanism

10. There are many similarities between Christianity and transhumanism. • However, transhumanism presents a new challenge for theology in general and for ordinary Christians in particular. • The task at hand is to remain creaturely in the face of technology. • Theology must rise to the challenge of transhumanismif it is to remain relevant. Conclusions to draw?