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Should technology be used to improve human faculties such as cognition and longevity? This thought-provoking dialogue between "transhumanism" and religion examines enhancement technologies that could radically alter the human species.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Making the Unknown Known Calvin Mercer Section 1: Theological Anthropology: What It Means to Be Human 1 Transhumanism and the Meaning of Life Anders Sandberg 2 More Human Than the Human? Toward a "Transhumanist" Christian Theological Anthropology Matthew Zaro Fisher 3 Cindi, Six, and Her: Gender, Relationality, and Friendly Artificial Intelligence Jeanine Thweatt-Bates Section 2: Soteriology: Salvation Now and Forever 4 "The Relief of Man's Estate": Transhumanism, the Baconian Project, and the Theological Impetus for Material Salvation Joseph Wolyniak 5 A Salvation Paradox for Transhumanism: Saving You versus Saving You Patrick D. Hopkins 6 Diagnosing Death in the Transhumanism and Christian Traditions Todd T. W. Daly 7 Cyborg, Sage, and Saint: Transhumanism as Seen from an East Asian Theological Setting Heup Young Kim Section 3: Eschatology: For What Do We Hope? 8 Becoming God by the Numbers: An Evolutionary Journey toward the Divine Philip A. Douglas 9 The Religion of Technology: Transhumanism and the Myth of Progress Michael S. Burdett 10 Extreme Longevity: Insights from the Three Chinese Spiritual Traditions Geoffrey Redmond 11 Utopianism and Eschatology: Judaism Engages Transhumanism Hava Tirosh-Samuelson 12 Rapture of the Geeks: Singularitarianism, Feminism, and the Yearning for Transcendence Amy Michelle DeBaets Section 4: Extreme Enhancement Ethics: Theological, Bioethical, and Philosophical Questions 13 Transhumanism and Catholic Natural Law: Changing Human Nature and Changing Moral Norms Brian Patrick Green 14 The Risks of Transhumanism: Religious Engagements with the Precautionary and Proactionary Principles Daniel McFee 15 Christian Theology and Transhumanism: The "Created Co-creator" and Bioethical Principles Stephen Garner 16 Remaking Human Nature: Transhumanism, Theology, and Creatureliness in Bioethical Controversies Celia Deane-Drummond 17 Critical Transhumanism as a Religious Ethic of Otherness Steven A. Benko and Amelia Hruby Section 5: Body Matters 18 Return of the Corporeal Battle: How Second-Century Christology Struggles Inform the Transhumanism Debate Lee A. Johnson 19 Flesh Made Data: The Posthuman Project in Light of the Incarnation Brent Waters 20 Morphological Freedom and the Rebellion against Human Bodiliness: Notes from the Roman Catholic Tradition Cory Andrew Labrecque 21 The Fleshless Future: A Phenomenological Perspective on Mind Uploading Hannah Scheidt Section 6: Corporeal Diversity and Religious Experience 22 Does Transhumanism Face an Uncanny Valley among the Religious? Donald M. Braxton 23 The Trans-Athlete and the Religion of Sport: Implications of Transhumanism for Elite Sport's Spiritual Dimension Tracy J. Trothen 24 Spiritual Enhancement Ron Cole-Turner Conclusion: Transhumanism and Religion: Glimpsing the Future of Human Enhancement Tracy J. Trothen Bibliography Index About the Editors and Contributors

About the Author

Calvin Mercer, PhD, is professor of religion and director of the Religious Studies Program at East Carolina University. Tracy J. Trothen, PhD, is associate professor of religion at the Queen's University School of Religion, in Kingston, Ontario.