Transhümanizm: “Allah’ın Yarattığını Değiştirme” veya İnsana Karşı Şeytan 2.0
Abstract: This article has been reviewed by at least two referees and scanned via a plagiarism software. / Bu makale, en az iki hakem tarafından incelendi ve intihal içermediği teyit edildi.
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Critique of Transhumanism's Concept of Humans from the Perspective of Islamic Thought
Transhumanism is defined as a human movement that believes in and attempts to implement ideas and practices aimed at developing and empowering the biological, psychological, and cognitive abilities of humans and helping them become superior to their current biological state through modern science and technological tools. Considering its promises and goals for humans and humanity, this science- and technology-based understanding is also recognized as a sociocultural and ideological movement. Given the effectiveness of areas such as virtual reality, genetic intervention, and artificial intelligence, it is clear that the promises of transhumanism are not so utopian. It is essential to subject the ontological approaches of transhumanism, which consider humans and the universe, to a theological interpretation based on current facts and arguments rather than philosophical and theoretical interpretations. Transhumanism clearly emphasizes that humans are incomplete beings and need to be developed. In this context, it emphasizes the understanding that humans can be empowered to their maximum potential through technology and science. It sets the goal of achieving the transhuman stage initially and then the posthuman stage, which represents the empowered state of humans at their maximum cognitive, emotional, and psychological levels. Although this movement, considered a continuation of humanism, develops humans physically, cognitively, and emotionally, it also treats humans as objects in achieving these goals. In our study, we specifically focus on transhumanism’s conception of humans and attempt to criticize this conception within the framework of the Islamic understanding of human beings. We first explain the concepts of transhuman and posthuman to understand transhumanists’ conception of humans. Transhumanists, who consider the transhuman an intermediate form and an incomplete being that needs to be developed in many aspects, claim that humans will reach maximum competence in the process of posthumanization and that this will be achieved through science and technology. This understanding, which sees humans as a product of evolution, contrasts with the Islamic belief that humans are created by God. Although evolution has historically been positioned as an ideology against religion, we attempt to demonstrate that it can be approached in a way that is compatible with God’s creation and that modern scientific data do not consider evolution impossible. When examined from the perspective of human nature, especially in general Islamic thought, the understanding of the human soul and body is incompatible with the transhumanist understanding of humans. This is because transhumanists reject the concept of the soul, which is considered an essence of the human being in Islamic thought. In contrast, transhumanists completely attribute the phenomenon that Islamic theology accepts as the soul to the biological structure of humans. Thus, they propose a different approach by emphasizing body-mind functionalism against soul-body duality. Because their claim is scientific, it has been proposed within the scope of modern science that the concept of the soul in Islamic thought can be understood as the energy that gives life to human beings or as human beings’ state of consciousness. Another topic addressed in this study is the transhumanist approach that views humans as inherently deficient. This perspective contradicts the Islamic conception of a perfect human. This is because in Islam, it is believed that human beings were created as aḥsan taqwīm (the most beautiful form) and can express perfection in every aspect. Regarding this point, we find that the fundamental problem is the expression of perfection in Islamic thought concerning the human body. It is clear that people can be born with disabilities and that they do not have physical perfection due to illness, old age, or other factors. Therefore, we suggest that the perfect aspect of humans should be positioned on the basis of their ability to think, use their mind in every way, and be conscious rather than referring to physical perfection since it is clear that humans can be born with disabilities.
Critique of Transhumanism's Concept of Humans from the Perspective of Islamic Thought
Transhumanism is defined as a human movement that believes in and attempts to implement ideas and practices aimed at developing and empowering the biological, psychological, and cognitive abilities of humans and helping them become superior to their current biological state through modern science and technological tools. Considering its promises and goals for humans and humanity, this science- and technology-based understanding is also recognized as a sociocultural and ideological movement. Given the effectiveness of areas such as virtual reality, genetic intervention, and artificial intelligence, it is clear that the promises of transhumanism are not so utopian. It is essential to subject the ontological approaches of transhumanism, which consider humans and the universe, to a theological interpretation based on current facts and arguments rather than philosophical and theoretical interpretations. Transhumanism clearly emphasizes that humans are incomplete beings and need to be developed. In this context, it emphasizes the understanding that humans can be empowered to their maximum potential through technology and science. It sets the goal of achieving the transhuman stage initially and then the posthuman stage, which represents the empowered state of humans at their maximum cognitive, emotional, and psychological levels. Although this movement, considered a continuation of humanism, develops humans physically, cognitively, and emotionally, it also treats humans as objects in achieving these goals. In our study, we specifically focus on transhumanism’s conception of humans and attempt to criticize this conception within the framework of the Islamic understanding of human beings. We first explain the concepts of transhuman and posthuman to understand transhumanists’ conception of humans. Transhumanists, who consider the transhuman an intermediate form and an incomplete being that needs to be developed in many aspects, claim that humans will reach maximum competence in the process of posthumanization and that this will be achieved through science and technology. This understanding, which sees humans as a product of evolution, contrasts with the Islamic belief that humans are created by God. Although evolution has historically been positioned as an ideology against religion, we attempt to demonstrate that it can be approached in a way that is compatible with God’s creation and that modern scientific data do not consider evolution impossible. When examined from the perspective of human nature, especially in general Islamic thought, the understanding of the human soul and body is incompatible with the transhumanist understanding of humans. This is because transhumanists reject the concept of the soul, which is considered an essence of the human being in Islamic thought. In contrast, transhumanists completely attribute the phenomenon that Islamic theology accepts as the soul to the biological structure of humans. Thus, they propose a different approach by emphasizing body-mind functionalism against soul-body duality. Because their claim is scientific, it has been proposed within the scope of modern science that the concept of the soul in Islamic thought can be understood as the energy that gives life to human beings or as human beings’ state of consciousness. Another topic addressed in this study is the transhumanist approach that views humans as inherently deficient. This perspective contradicts the Islamic conception of a perfect human. This is because in Islam, it is believed that human beings were created as aḥsan taqwīm (the most beautiful form) and can express perfection in every aspect. Regarding this point, we find that the fundamental problem is the expression of perfection in Islamic thought concerning the human body. It is clear that people can be born with disabilities and that they do not have physical perfection due to illness, old age, or other factors. Therefore, we suggest that the perfect aspect of humans should be positioned on the basis of their ability to think, use their mind in every way, and be conscious rather than referring to physical perfection since it is clear that humans can be born with disabilities.
Çağların değişmesiyle birlikte insan, varlığa dair tasavvurlarını değiştirmiştir. Bu tasavvurların birçok farklı dönemde farklı şekillerde açığa çıktığını görmekteyiz. Varlık tasavvuru insanın varlık ile kurduğu ilişkilerini, eylemlerini, düşüncelerini ve inançlarını şekillendirerek insanın varlık karşısındaki konumunu belirler. Bu noktada dinlerin, düşünce sistemlerinin ve kültürel geleneklerin farklı varlık tasavvurları ile insanın âlem ile olan ilişkisini düzenleme yönünde öğretilere sahip olduğunu görmekteyiz. Bu öğretilerin insan-varlık ilişkisini düzenleyen ahlaki, siyasi, sosyal, dini, epistemolojik ve kültürel boyutları vardır. İnsanın varlığa dair tasavvuru onun gelecekte elde etmek istediği konumla da doğrudan alakalıdır. İnsan, tarih boyunca aklının ona sunduğu imkanlar nispetinde kendi dışındaki varlığı bilgi ile kayıt altına alarak onu kontrol etmeye ve tüketmeye dönük çabaların içinde kendini bulmuştur. Yine bu çabaların içinde insan günümüze gelindiğinde eski alışkanlıklarını devam ettirmekte ve kendi türünü bir adım ileriye taşımak maksadıyla varlığa ilişkin yeni bir tasavvurun etkisinde varlık ile olan ilişkisini tanzim etmektedir. Veri çağında insanın varlık ile olan ilişkisinde, varlığın veri olarak tasavvur edilmesi birçok yeni teknolojik atılımın önünü açmaktadır. Varlığın veri olarak tasavvuru özellikle ahlaki, epistemolojik ve sosyal anlamda insanın yeni ilişkiler kurmasına yol açmıştır. İnsanın ilişki ağlarını çeşitlendirip geliştirerek ürettiği veriler onun geleceğini şekillendirici rol oynayacaktır.
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