Transhumanism, Theological Anthropology, and Modern Biological Taxonomy
I examine the ways in which the theological and philosophical debate surrounding transhumanism might profit by a detailed engagement with contemporary biology, in particular with the mainline accounts of species and speciation. After a short introduction, I provide a very brief primer on species con...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Wiley-Blackwell
[2017]
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| In: |
Zygon
Year: 2017, Volume: 52, Issue: 3, Pages: 601-622 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Transhumanism
/ Biology
/ Taxonomy
/ Human image
/ Theological anthropology
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| RelBib Classification: | AB Philosophy of religion; criticism of religion; atheism NBE Anthropology |
| Further subjects: | B
Transhumanism
B Taxonomy B Biology B Theological Anthropology |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | I examine the ways in which the theological and philosophical debate surrounding transhumanism might profit by a detailed engagement with contemporary biology, in particular with the mainline accounts of species and speciation. After a short introduction, I provide a very brief primer on species concepts and speciation in contemporary biological taxonomy. Then in a third section (titled Implications for Technological Alteration of Species) I draw out some implications for the prospects of our being able intentionally to intervene in human evolution for the production of new species out of Homo sapiens. In a fourth section (titled How Does the Biological Conception of Homo sapiens Relate to a Philosophical (or Theological) Account of Human Nature? And Where Does This Leave Transhumanism?) I bring in the debate over the proper relationship between biological and theological conceptions of human nature, laying out the major options available (in light of Ian Barbour's fourfold categorization schema) and considering their possible implications for our understanding of transhumanism. In a fifth section (titled Potential Applications to Specific Subdisciplines of Theology) several concrete examples are drawn out pertaining to particular subdisciplines within theology (hamartiology, soteriology, and eschatology). I conclude by briefly laying out some suggestions for future work, focusing on tasks that theologians specifically ought to pursue. |
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| ISSN: | 1467-9744 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Zygon
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1111/zygo.12346 |