Transhuman Transcendence

In an article for The New Atlantis (a superb journal about technology and society), Gilbert Meilaender explains the difference between the kinds of transcendence aspired to by transhumanism compared to Christianity :

Some of these attempts to extend life probably fall under the rubric of “enhancement,” a by now familiar topic in bioethical discussion of issues such as cosmetic surgery, mood-brightening drugs, and “designer” babies. Once, however, our target becomes not only the average but also the maximum life span, it becomes harder to think that we are simply enhancing capacities already in place. On the contrary, we are aiming at something genuinely new, something it is difficult to contemplate or evaluate with our normal ways of thinking, focused, as they are, simply on benefits and harms. We are forced to think about the kind of people we are and should strive to be — about what will truly help us to flourish as human beings. Most importantly, perhaps, we must come to terms with our nature as organisms, as bodies that limit us in countless ways and limit our days. Is that just an unfortunate (and, we may hope, temporary) fact, to be overcome first in ageless, organic bodies and then even in virtual, inorganic ones? Or shall we say, as the Creator of animals and man does in Genesis, that this embodied life is “very good”?

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