Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Christian Perspectives on Transhumanism and the Church pp 117–135Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Nietzsche’s Power Ontology and Transhumanism: Or Why Christians Cannot Be Transhumanists

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Abstract

Transhumanism traces its roots to Enlightenment humanism and claims to be the harbinger of the next phase of humanistic activity through designer evolution. In this essay, I briefly trace medicine’s relationship with transhumanist philosophy to the philosophy of medicine and show that each accepts a kind of ambiguity of the body at the heart of its metaphysical assumptions. I show that these metaphysical assumptions are committed to a power ontology, and that this power ontology is fundamentally at odds with the traditional Christian lifeworld.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Taylor , Modern Social Imaginaries.

  2. 2.

    Bishop , “Body Work and the Work of Bodies.”

  3. 3.

    McGill , Death and Life.

  4. 4.

    Cassirer , An Essay on Man; Fleck , Genesis and Development of a Scientific Fact; Kuhn The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.

  5. 5.

    Cassirer , a philosopher , was a German Jew who was forced to flee Germany when the Nazis came to power.

  6. 6.

    Cassirer , An Essay on Man.

  7. 7.

    Skidelsky , Ernst Cassirer.

  8. 8.

    Cassirer , An Essay on Man, 25.

  9. 9.

    Ibid., 26.

  10. 10.

    Bacon , The New Organon; McKenny , To Relieve the Human Condition; Bishop , The Anticipatory Corpse.

  11. 11.

    Gagen and Bishop , “Ethics, Justification and the Prevention of Spina Bifida.”

  12. 12.

    Ibid.

  13. 13.

    Roberts et al., “The Efficacy of a Serum Screening Service for Neural-tube Defects: the South Wales Experience.”

  14. 14.

    Campbell et al., “Ultrasound in the Diagnosis of Spina Bifida;” Gagen and Bishop , “Ethics, Justification and the Prevention of Spina Bifida.”

  15. 15.

    de Grey and Rae , Ending Aging; Kurzweil , The Singularity is Near.

  16. 16.

    de Grey , “HO2•: The Forgotten Radical;” de Grey , “Free Radicals in Aging: Causal Complexity and Its Biomedical Implications;” de Grey , “Alzheimer’s, Atherosclerosis, and Aggregates: A Role of Bacterial Degradation;” de Grey et al., “Is Human Aging Still Mysterious Enough to be Left Only to Scientists?” Khrapko , et al., “Does Premature Aging of the mtDNA Mutator Mouse Prove that mtDNA Mutations are Involved in Natural Aging?”

  17. 17.

    de Grey , “Zeno’s Paradox and the Faith that Technological Game-changers are Impossible,” 94.

  18. 18.

    de Grey , “HO2•: The Forgotten Radical;” de Grey , “Reason and Methods for Promoting Our Duty to Extend Healthy Life Indefinitely;” de Grey , “Zeno’s Paradox and the Faith that Technological Game-changers are Impossible;” de Grey and Rae , Ending Aging.

  19. 19.

    Kurzweil , “Reinventing Humanity: The Future of Machine-human Intelligence;” Kurzweil , “The Future of Intelligent Technology and Its Impact on Disabilities.”

  20. 20.

    Kurzweil , The Singularity is Near, 205–298.

  21. 21.

    Ibid., 21.

  22. 22.

    Bostrom , The Transhumanist FAQ v. 2.1.

  23. 23.

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

  24. 24.

    Bostrom , “The Fable of the Dragon-Tyrant.”

  25. 25.

    Bostrom , The Transhumanist FAQ v. 2.1, 6.

  26. 26.

    Nietzsche, “The Birth of Tragedy,” 1–116.

  27. 27.

    Nietzsche Thus Spoke Zarathustra, 119–188; Richardson , Nietzsche’s System, 11–65; Richardson , Nietzsche’s New Darwinism, 12–13.

  28. 28.

    Harris , Enhancing Evolution.

  29. 29.

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

  30. 30.

    Heidegger , “The Question Concerning Technology,” in Heidegger, Basic Writings.

  31. 31.

    Ibid., 324–325.

  32. 32.

    Ibid.; Borgmann , Technology and the Character of Contemporary Life; Verbeek , Moralizing Technology.

  33. 33.

    Davis , Scripture, Culture, and Agriculture.

  34. 34.

    Bostrom , The Transhumanist FAQ v. 2.1, 5.

  35. 35.

    Kee , Medicine, Miracle and Magic in New Testament Times; Ferngren , Medicine and Health Care in Early Christianity.

  36. 36.

    Kee , Medicine, Miracle and Magic in New Testament Times, 112.

  37. 37.

    Ferngren , Medicine and Health Care in Early Christianity, 127.

  38. 38.

    Cf., Bostrom , The Transhumanist FAQ v. 2.1, 5.

  39. 39.

    Bacon , The New Organon, 20.

  40. 40.

    Heidegger , “The Question Concerning Technology,” in Heidegger , Basic Writings, 319.

  41. 41.

    Wirzba , From Nature to Creation.

  42. 42.

    Young , Designer Evolution.

Bibliography

  • Bacon, Francis. 2000. In The New Organon, ed. Lisa Jardine and Michael Silverthorne. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Bishop, J.P. 2010. Transhumanism, Metaphysics, and the Posthuman God. Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 35 (6): 700–720.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2011. The Anticipatory Corpse: Medicine, Power and the Care of the Dying. South Bend: University of Notre Dame Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2013. Body Work and the Work of Bodies. Journal of Moral Theology 2 (1): 113–131.

    Google Scholar 

  • Borgmann, Albert. 1987. Technology and the Character of Contemporary Life. Chicago: University Of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bostrom, Nick. 2003. The Transhumanist FAQ v. 2.1. Oxford: World Transhumanist Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2005. The Fable of the Dragon-Tyrant. Journal of Medical Ethics 31 (5): 273–277.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, S., J. Pryse-Davies, T.M. Coltart, Mary J. Seller, and Jack D. Singer. 1975. Ultrasound in the Diagnosis of Spina Bifida. Lancet 305 (7915): 1065–1068.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cassirer, Ernst. 1992. An Essay on Man. New Haven: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis, Ellen. 2009. Scripture, Culture, and Agriculture: An Agrarian Reading of the Bible. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • de Grey, Aubrey D.N.J. 2002. HO2•: The Forgotten Radical. DNA and Cell Biology 21 (4): 251–257.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2006. Free Radicals in Aging: Causal Complexity and Its Biomedical Implications. Free Radical Research 40 (12): 1244–1249.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2007. Alzheimer’s, Atherosclerosis, and Aggregates: A Role of Bacterial Degradation. Nutrition Reviews 65 (12): S221–S227.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2008. Reason and Methods for Promoting Our Duty to Extend Healthy Life Indefinitely. Journal of Evolution and Technology 18 (1): 1–6.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2013. Zeno’s Paradox and the Faith that Technological Game-Changers Are Impossible. Gerontology 59: 93–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Grey, Aubrey D.N.J., and M. Rae. 2008. Ending Aging: The Rejuvenation Breakthroughs that Could Reverse Human Aging in Our Lifetime. New York: St. Martin’s Griffin.

    Google Scholar 

  • de Grey, Aubrey D.N.J., Jown W. Baynes, David Berd, Christopher B. Heward, Graham Pawelec, and Gregory Stock. 2002. Is Human Aging Still Mysterious Enough to be Left Only to Scientists? BioEssays 24 (7): 667–676.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferngren, Gary B. 2009. Medicine and Health Care in Early Christianity. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fleck, Ludwig. 1979. Genesis and Development of a Scientific Fact, ed. Thaddeus J. Treen and Robert K. Merton, Trans. Fred Bradley and Thaddeus J. Trenn. Chicago: University of Chicago press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gagen, Wendy Jane, and Jeffrey P. Bishop. 2007. Ethics, Justification and the Prevention of Spina Bifida. Journal of Medical Ethics 33 (9): 501–507.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harris, John. 2007. Enhancing Evolution. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heidegger, Martin. 1977. In Basic Writings, ed. David Farrell Krell. San Francisco: HarperCollins.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kee, Howard Clark. 1988. Medicine, Miracle and Magic in New Testament Times, Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series. 1st ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Khrapko, Konstantin, Yevgenya Kraytsberg, Aubrey D.N.J. de Grey, Jan Vijg, and Eric A. Schon. 2006. Does Premature Aging of the mtDNA Mutator Mouse Prove that mtDNA Mutations Are Involved in Natural Aging? Aging Cell 5 (3): 279–282.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuhn, Thomas. 2012. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. 4th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Kurzweil, Ray. 2003. The Future of Intelligent Technology and Its Impact on Disabilities. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness 97 (10): 582–584.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2006a. The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology. New York: Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2006b. Reinventing Humanity: The Future of Machine-Human Intelligence. The Futurist 40: 39–46.

    Google Scholar 

  • McGill, Arthur Chute. 1987. Death and Life. Philadelphia: Fortress Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McKenny, Gerald P. 1997. To Relieve the Human Condition: Bioethics, Technology, and the Body. Albany: State University of New York Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nietzsche, Friedrich. 1999. The Birth of Tragedy. In The Birth of Tragedy and Other Writings, ed. Raymond Geuss and Ronald Speirs. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2006. Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Richardson, John. 1996. Nietzsche’s System. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2004. Nietzsche’s New Darwinism. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, C.J., B.M. Hibbard, G.H. Elder, K.T. Evans, K.M. Laurence, A. Roberts, J.S. Woodhead, I.B. Robertson, and M. Hoole. 1983. The Efficacy of a Serum Screening Service for Neural-Tube Defects: The South Wales Experience. Lancet 1 (8337): 1315–1318.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skidelsky, Edward. 2009. Ernst Cassirer. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, Charles. 2004. Modern Social Imaginaries. Durham: Duke University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Verbeek, Peter-Paul. 2011. Moralizing Technology: Understanding and Designing the Morality of Things. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Wirzba, Norman. 2015. From Nature to Creation: A Christian Vision for Understanding and Loving Our World. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Young, Simon. 2006. Designer Evolution: A Transhumanist Manifesto. Amherst: Prometheus Books.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO, USA

    Jeffrey P. Bishop

Authors
  1. Jeffrey P. Bishop
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jeffrey P. Bishop .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Samford University, Birmingham, AL, USA

    Steve Donaldson

  2. Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Ron Cole-Turner

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Bishop, J.P. (2018). Nietzsche’s Power Ontology and Transhumanism: Or Why Christians Cannot Be Transhumanists. 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_7

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation