A Critical Assessment of Transhumanism

Abstract

Transhumanism is a recently born movement fostering the employment of advanced technological means for improving human capabilities and overcoming human physical limitations. What follows is an attempt at critically assess the movement, its strategies, its goals as well as the conceptual tenets underlying it, taking also into account some of the key scientific topics involved. Our main point is that any kind of technological intervention should respect the fundamental integrity of the human being, as it can be acknowledged when considering the biological, the neurological and the personal levels, the latter one being basically characterized by consciousness and intentionality. We shall also consider the relevance of the intellectual challenge represented by the transhumanist movement for an understanding of the human culture at large, for finally proposing some brief theological conclusions regarding the stewardship that mankind is expected to exert on the created world, as well as the issue of human self-transcendence.