Religious Transhumanism and Its Critics

by Arvin M. Gouw Stanford University (Editor), Brian Patrick Green Assistant Director of Cam (Editor), Ted Peters Graduate Theological Union (Editor), Aubrey deGrey (Foreword by), Whitney A. Bauman (Contribution by)

Overview

Why do representatives of different religious traditions find the transhumanist vision of the future not only theologically compatible but even inspiring? Transhumanism is a global movement seeking radical human enhancement. The trans in transhumanism marks the transition from the present stage in human evolution into the future, namely, post-human existence. Containing chapters written by adherents to a variety of religious traditions, Religious Transhumanism and Its Critics provides first-hand testimony to the value of the transhumanist vision perceived by the religious mind. In addition, the contributors critique both secular and religious transhumanism in light of realistic science and commitment to social justice.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781498584135
Publisher:	Lexington Books
Publication date:	03/10/2022
Series:	Religion and Science as a Critical Discourse
Pages:	494
Product dimensions:	6.26(w) x 9.37(h) x 1.27(d)

About the Author

Arvin Gouw is a postgraduate researcher at the Cambridge university school of divinity. He has served as an instructor at Stanford University School of Medicine and faculty affiliate at Harvard Center for Science, Religion, and Culture.

Brian Patrick Green is the director of Technology Ethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics and adjunct faculty in the School of Engineering at Santa Clara University.

Ted Peters is distinguished research professor emeritus at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary and the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA.

Table of Contents

Part I: Techno-Utopia? Where Are Transhumanists Leading Us?

Chapter 1: Homo Deus or Frankenstein's Monster? Religious Transhumanism and Its Critics

Ted Peters

Chapter 2: Are We Becoming God(s)? Transhumanism, Posthumanism, Antihumanism, and the Divine

Francesca Ferrando

Part II: What Are Religious Transhumanists and Their Critics Saying?

Chapter 3: Mormon Transhumanism

Lincoln Cannon

Chapter 4: Pre-Original Buddhism and the Transhumanist Imperative

Michael LaTorra

Chapter 5: Unitarian Universalists as Critical Transhumanists

James Hughes

Chapter 6: Confucian Religious Sensibility and Transhumanist Anthropology

Heup Young Kim

Chapter 7: Why Christian Transhumanism?

Micah Redding

Chapter 8: Steps Toward a Theology of Christian Transhumanism

Ron Cole-Turner

Chapter 9: A Roman Catholic View: Technological Progress? Yes. Transhumanism? No.

Brian Patrick Green

Chapter 10: Technological Theosis? An Eastern Orthodox Critique of Religious Transhumanism

Brandon Gallaher

Chapter 11: The Transhumanist Pied Pipers: A Jewish Caution against False Messianism

Hava Tirosh-Samuelson

Part III: The H+ Future: What are the Issues?

Chapter 12: Cyborg, Gender, and the Posthuman Self

J. Jeanine Thweatt

Chapter 13: A Virtual Ghost in the Digital Machine: Whole Brain Emulation, Disembodied Gender, and Queer Mystical Animality

Jay Emerson Johnson

Chapter 14: Copulation, Masturbation, and Sex Bots: Ethical Implication of AI as My Buddy in Bed

Elisabeth Gerle

Chapter 15: The Transhumanist Threat to Plants and Animals: An Exercise in Eco-Feminist Critical Theory

Iris Ralph and Peter I-min Huang

Chapter 16: Transhumanism, Theological Anthropology, and the Ethics of Ambiguity

Whitney A. Bauman

Chapter 17: The iCalf, Relationality, and the Extended Body: Evaluations of Different Notions of Post/Transhumanism

Markus Mühling

Part IV: Is H+ Sound Scientifically? Philosophically? Theologically?

Chapter 18: Transhumanism: Good Science? Bad Science? Pseudo-Science

Arvin Gouw

Chapter 19: Ghosts or Zombies: On Keeping Body and Soul Together

Noreen Herzfeld

Chapter 20: In Praise of Boundaries: Understanding Mortality as an Ally

Nelson R. Kellogg

Chapter 21: Homo Gubernator as a Teilhardian-Catholic Response to Transhumanism

Levi Checketts

Chapter 22: Will Transhumanism Reach Point Omega?

Ilia Delio

Chapter 23: Resurrection, and the Transhumanist Promise

Celia E. Deane-Drummond

Chapter 24: Moral Enhancement, the Virtues, and Transhumanism: Moving Beyond Gene Editing

Braden Molhoek

Chapter 25: Epilogue: Introducing a New Transhumanist Theology

Arvin Gouw