Transhumanism and Transubstantiation: A Eucharistic Philosophy of Technology in the Age of the Post-Human
Andre Chavez, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO
Transhumanists desire to use biotechnology to radically enhance the human body and transcend human nature itself, ushering in an evolved ‘post-human’ species. Many authors agree that the ultimate aims of the transhumanist movement are incompatible with a Christian worldview. Still, others have argued for a moderate view appropriating the technology of human enhancement within a Christian anthropology. Nonetheless, the broader culture of technology that corresponds to transhumanism starkly contrasts a Christian view of technology.The former is a worldview whose first principle is overcoming the limitations of the body and whose god is the post-human ideal.
This paper puts forth a Christian philosophy of human enhancement modeled after the Catholic practice of the Eucharist that starkly contrasts the technological vision that begot transhumanism. A liturgical vision of technology largely forecloses on the prospect of radical enhancement for Christians. I first review the transhumanist movement’s aims and technologies along with some of its contemporary Christian commentators. Then, I draw from St. Thomas Aquinas’ morality of happiness, Romano Guardini’s theology of technology, and contemporary philosophers including Albert Borgmann to contour the differences between a Christian and transhumanist use of technology. Finally, I draw from the liturgical theology of David Fagerberg to articulate a philosophy of technology that is typified in the Eucharist, in which nature is infused with human creativity, perfected by grace, and directed to union with God as our ultimate end. Having deduced the principles of a Eucharistic philosophy of technology, we will be equipped to evaluate the ethics of radical enhancement for Christians.
This paper puts forth a Christian philosophy of human enhancement modeled after the Catholic practice of the Eucharist that starkly contrasts the technological vision that begot transhumanism. A liturgical vision of technology largely forecloses on the prospect of radical enhancement for Christians. I first review the transhumanist movement’s aims and technologies along with some of its contemporary Christian commentators. Then, I draw from St. Thomas Aquinas’ morality of happiness, Romano Guardini’s theology of technology, and contemporary philosophers including Albert Borgmann to contour the differences between a Christian and transhumanist use of technology. Finally, I draw from the liturgical theology of David Fagerberg to articulate a philosophy of technology that is typified in the Eucharist, in which nature is infused with human creativity, perfected by grace, and directed to union with God as our ultimate end. Having deduced the principles of a Eucharistic philosophy of technology, we will be equipped to evaluate the ethics of radical enhancement for Christians.