Transhumanism as a Secular Vision of Christian Ethics
摘要
From the perspective of Christian theology, three concepts provide the framing for human identity and transformation: the notion of imago Dei, the incarnation of Christ, and the eschatological vision of Christian tradition. Transhumanism has always drawn on these concepts, from the scientific theology of Sir Francis Bacon, to the eschatology of Nikolai Fedorov, to the evolutionary vision of Teilhard de Chardin which inspired “father of transhumanism” Julian Huxley. This influence continues today—as philosopher and social epistemologist Steve Fuller declared at a popular transhumanist conference in 2019, “Transhumanism is about the image of God!” In this paper, I examine each of these Christian concepts in terms of how they may inspire transhumanist visions, and how they may interface with transhumanist ethical questions. Grappling with some existing transhumanist shortcomings, I attempt to point the way towards a more fully Christian transhumanist ethic, and illustrate how transhumanism may locate itself within the larger Christian tradition.