Creatures Bound for Glory: Biotechnological Enhancement and Visions of Human Flourishing

Burdett, Michael; Lorrimar, Victoria

doi:10.1177/0953946819827141

Cited by 12 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…2 For a helpful overview of the distinctions between transhumanism and posthumanism with regard to human flourishing, see (Burdett and Lorrimar 2019).…”

Section: Conflicts Of Interestmentioning

confidence: 99%

Upload, Cyber-Spirituality and the Quest for Immortality in Contemporary Science-Fiction Film and Television

Magerstädt

2024

Religions

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As a genre, science fiction has long played with the idea of all-powerful virtual beings and explored notions of transcendence through technological advancements. It has also been at the forefront of exploring our anxieties and hopes regarding new technologies and the ethical and moral consequences of scientific advancement, raising deeply philosophical and theological concerns about an age-old question, namely: what makes us distinct as human beings and what lies beyond our own existence? This article aims to provide an overview of recent themes that have emerged in science fiction film and television, especially with regard to extending our lives beyond their natural biological age. As the article will outline, these ideas generally appear in notions of cyborgization or mind uploading into cyberspace. Both indicate a deeply human desire to avoid death, and the films and shows discussed in this article offer a range of different ideas on this. As we will see, the final case study, the Amazon Prime television show Upload (2020–), brings both of these elements together, touching on a broad range of ideas about cyber-spirituality along the way. The article concludes that although many shows raise interesting questions about the ethical challenges inherent in transhumanist fantasies of mind uploading, they ultimately remain ambiguous in their critique of the dream of digital immortality.

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“…2 For a helpful overview of the distinctions between transhumanism and posthumanism with regard to human flourishing, see (Burdett and Lorrimar 2019).…”

Section: Conflicts Of Interestmentioning

confidence: 99%

Upload, Cyber-Spirituality and the Quest for Immortality in Contemporary Science-Fiction Film and Television

Magerstädt

2024

Religions

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“…The name itself is a conjunction of "trans" and "humanism" which points to their dissatisfaction. They claim that the human condition needs to be transcended beyond its present capabilities and that doing so will mean we can lead more satisfactory lives (see Burdett and Lorrimar 2019). Of course any anthropology worth the title recognizes that the human quality to reach out beyond oneself, to grow and get better is a necessary component of human nature and human life-even for relatively static accounts of the human being.…”

Section: Transhumanism and Mind-uploadingmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Machine in the Ghost: Transhumanism and the Ontology of Information

Burdett¹,

Leung²

2023

Zygon

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An ontology of information belies our common intuitions about reality today and animates and governs both explicit scholarly study in philosophy and the sciences as well as the ideologies that are growing out of them. Transhumanism is one such technoscientific ideology that holds to a very specific ontology of information which need not be the only one on offer. This article argues that the transhumanist ontology of information exhibits gnostic and docetic religious overtones in it and that it devalues physical existence. At the same time, despite claiming a rejection of supernature, hypothetical transhumanist practices (such as mind‐uploading) posit the infosphere as a kind of supernatural realm that is often set in opposition to the natural world. This article presents a critique of transhumanist conceptions of information and offers an alternative ontology of information that more adequately accounts for the distinction between the natural and supernatural as well as the integrity of the physical world.

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“…It should come as no surprise that, whatever might be said in favor of other forms of transhumanist futures (Burdett and Lorrimar 2019;Macaskill 2019;Zahl 2019;McKenny 2019;Jones 2020), this particular vision of "hope" is in deep conflict with the Christian tradition (Gallaher 2019(Gallaher , 2022Sweet 2015, 362-64;Herzfeld 2002Herzfeld , 2022Winyard 2020;Waters 2015). Indeed, it is worth noting that the Christian Transhumanist Association specifically affirms both the renewal of creation and of the body: there is no role for a fleshless future in their vision for technology (https://www.christiantranshumanism.org/affirmation; Redding 2022;Cole-Turner 2022;cf.…”

Section: Disposable Bodies: Transhumanism and Hopementioning

confidence: 99%

Disposable Bodies, Disabled Minds, and Christian Hope: Resurrection in Light of Transhumanism and Intellectual Disability

Sloane¹

2022

Zygon

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This piece brings into critical conversation Christian resurrection hope, virtual versions of transhumanism, and intellectual disability and demonstrates that Christian resurrection provides a more cogent hope for people with severe intellectual disabilities than transhumanism. I argue that transhumanist virtual futures are theologically problematic, as bodily resurrection is neither required nor desirable. It is particularly problematic for people with severe intellectual disabilities given the way they would be excluded from these futures. Disability theology also raises issues with the traditional notions of “healing” in the resurrection and the implications for the value and identity of persons with intellectual disabilities. Starting with these problems, I explore the nature of Christian hope, noting the inadequacies of a virtual transhumanist future with respect to both resurrection faith and intellectual disability, and address how resurrection hope can account for issues raised in disability theology, and so properly include people with intellectual disabilities.

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Creatures Bound for Glory: Biotechnological Enhancement and Visions of Human Flourishing

Cited by 12 publications

References 1 publication

Upload, Cyber-Spirituality and the Quest for Immortality in Contemporary Science-Fiction Film and Television

Upload, Cyber-Spirituality and the Quest for Immortality in Contemporary Science-Fiction Film and Television

The Machine in the Ghost: Transhumanism and the Ontology of Information

Disposable Bodies, Disabled Minds, and Christian Hope: Resurrection in Light of Transhumanism and Intellectual Disability

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