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Rivalry, Control, and Transhumanist Desire

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Christian Perspectives on Transhumanism and the Church

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Abstract

Transhumanists sometimes present their projects as fulfilling the fundamental desires for control and progress, desires they contend are natural and healthy. This view is problematized by René Girard’s mimetic theory of human desire and Jean-Michel Oughourlian’s theological account of the origin of desire. This perspective suggests that the desires shaping transhumanist projects arise socially through imitation. Furthermore, consuming desires for control and progress seem to be symptomatic of a mimetic rivalry with God. The church can combat this tendency by imitating Christ. This imitation shapes human desire in such a way as to put us in a right relationship with God. Decisions about technological advance must be made from this orientation.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Cf. Bostrom, “Transhumanist FAQ 3.0.”

  2. 2.

    Ibid. The second part of the definition describes transhumanism as “The study of the ramifications, promises, and potential dangers of technologies that will enable us to overcome fundamental human limitations, and the related study of the ethical matters involved in developing and using such technologies.”

  3. 3.

    Bostrom “ Transhumanist Values,” 4.

  4. 4.

    Ibid.

  5. 5.

    Ibid.

  6. 6.

    Kurzweil, The Singularity is Near, 2–5.

  7. 7.

    Ibid., 21, 364–366.

  8. 8.

    Bishop , “Transhumanism, Metaphysics, and the Posthuman God,” 707.

  9. 9.

    Kurzweil, The Singularity Is Near, 21; Bostrom “Transhumanist FAQ 3.0.”

  10. 10.

    De Grey and Rae, Ending Aging, 11.

  11. 11.

    Ibid., 9–11.

  12. 12.

    See Schwager, Must There Be Scapegoats?

  13. 13.

    See Alison, The Joy of Being Wrong.

  14. 14.

    Girard, I See Satan Fall Like Lightning, 15.

  15. 15.

    Ibid.

  16. 16.

    Girard, The One by Whom Scandal Comes, 4.

  17. 17.

    Girard, I See Satan Fall Like Lightning, 9.

  18. 18.

    Ibid.

  19. 19.

    Ibid., 15.

  20. 20.

    Aristotle , “Poetics” (1448b5) in Aristotle, The Basic Works of Aristotle, 1457.

  21. 21.

    See Garrels, Mimesis and Science.

  22. 22.

    Ibid. See Part 1, Chapter 3.

  23. 23.

    Ibid. See Part 1, Chapter 2.

  24. 24.

    Alison also offers a Girardian reinterpretation of original sin, atonement, and the resurrection in The Joy of Being Wrong.

  25. 25.

    Oughourlian, The Genesis of Desire, 52.

  26. 26.

    Ibid., 62.

  27. 27.

    Ibid.

  28. 28.

    Ibid., 48.

  29. 29.

    Girard and Williams, The Girard Reader, 40.

  30. 30.

    Oughourlian, The Genesis of Desire, 23.

  31. 31.

    Ibid., 65.

  32. 32.

    Ibid., 14.

  33. 33.

    Ibid.

  34. 34.

    Bailie, Violence Unveiled, 137–140 (opening sections of chapter 7, “A Text in Travail”).

  35. 35.

    Naam, More than Human. Ray Kurzweil also cites this quote in agreement in The Singularity is Near.

  36. 36.

    Bishop, “Transhumanism, Metaphysics, and the Posthuman God,” 705–707.

  37. 37.

    Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morality, 11.

  38. 38.

    Ibid., 15. His critique of Christianity claims that the exultation of virtues such as humility is itself an act of power.

  39. 39.

    Ibid., 16.

  40. 40.

    Bostrom “ Transhumanist FAQ 3.0.”

  41. 41.

    Bishop , “Transhumanism, Metaphysics, and the Posthuman God,” 706.

  42. 42.

    See Girard, I See Satan Fall Like Lightning, Chapter 14.

  43. 43.

    Rubin , “Human Dignity and the Future of Man,” 157.

  44. 44.

    Ibid., 157.

  45. 45.

    Bostrom “ Transhumanist Values,” 4.

  46. 46.

    Hauerwas, God, Medicine and Suffering, 48.

  47. 47.

    Girard and Williams, The Girard Reader, 197. Excerpt from Girard’s essay “Satan.”

  48. 48.

    Girard, I See Satan Fall Like Lightning, 123.

  49. 49.

    Smith, Desiring the Kingdom, 19–22.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Albert Gnaegi Center for Health Care Ethics, Saint Louis University, St Louis, MO, USA

    Ysabel Johnston

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  1. Samford University, Birmingham, AL, USA

    Steve Donaldson

  2. Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Ron Cole-Turner

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Johnston, Y. (2018). Rivalry, Control, and Transhumanist Desire. In: Donaldson, S., Cole-Turner, R. (eds) Christian Perspectives on Transhumanism and the Church. Palgrave Studies in the Future of Humanity and its Successors. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90323-1_13

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