Transhumanism as a Secularist Faith

Abstract

In the second half of the twentieth century, humanism— namely, the worldview that underpinned Western thought for several centuries—has been severely critiqued by philosophers who highlighted its theoretical and ethical limitations. Inspired by the emergence of cybernetics and new technologies such as robotics, prosthetics, communications, artificial intelligence, genetic engineering, and nanotechnology, there has been a desire to articulate a new worldview that will fit the posthuman condition. Posthumanism is a description of a new form of human existence in which the boundaries between humans and nature and humans and machines are blurred, as well as a prescription for an ideal situation in which the limitations of human biology are transcended, replaced by machines. The transition from the human condition to the posthuman condition will be facilitated by transhumanism, the project of human enhancement that will ultimately yield the transformation of the human species from the human to the posthuman. As an intellectual movement, transhumanism is still very small, but transhumanist ideas exert deep and broad influence on contemporary culture and society. This essay highlights the religious dimension of transhumanism and argues that it should be seen as a secularist faith: transhumanism secularizes traditional religious themes, concerns, and goals, while endowing technology with religious significance. Science‐Religion Studies is the most appropriate context to explore the cultural significance of transhumanism.

What is Mormon Transhumanism?

“…We can recognize that negation of one post-human projection always implies another, misrecognized until humanity embraces its transformation. 62 …”

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“…An additional form of contemporary technological enchantment, not specified in Partridge's survey, is transhumanism, which exhibits a similar interpenetration of enchanted and disenchanted modes of thought discussed by Josephson‐Storm. According to Hava Tirosh‐Samuelson, transhuman discourse, in its pursuit of a future posthuman age, may be viewed as a secular faith that “hybridizes the religious with the secular, in effect ‘re‐enchanting’ the secular while simultaneously aligning with Enlightenment rationality over religious belief” (Tirosh‐Samuelson , 731).…”

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“…Such visions may be the material of science fiction, but thinking about ways to improve greatly the human condition seems a laudable goal. In his contribution, Eduardo Cruz deals with transhumanism and human enhancement, the aspiration to improve humans in a major way (see also Tirosh‐Samuelson ; Cruz ). He argues that skipping birth and infancy may seem a gain, but might be a loss.…”