Christian Worldview Concepts

Desperately Seeking Perfection: Transhuman's Utopian Dreams

Limitless Capability

It may be argued that among the most powerful influences upon Western civilization, Secular Humanism and Christianity have been most prominent. Although they are bitter philosophical enemies, these competing worldviews have contributed the most to the development of such enterprises as modern medicine, biotechnology and democratic experiments, whose aim is to know more and more about the world as a function of human liberty.¹

Humanists² have long held highly optimistic, even utopian, ideas about human capabilities. Since the Renaissance, Humanists increasingly treated humans as the center of attention in an unruly universe, albeit, a universe that could ultimately be subdued by human reason and free inquiry if humans were only liberated from the misguided stranglehold of religion and other human-limiting philosophies. Generally speaking, Humanists consider progress to be inevitable once human beings are completely liberated from the disturbances of theism, divine revelation, divine judgment and the control of religious authorities.

Since Humanists regard the physical universe as the only knowable reality,³ and science as the only valid paradigm of knowledge, their view of human beings is necessarily tied to a this-world-only worldview, a view of reality that is in sharp contrast to that of historic biblical Christianity. Humanists envision a world free of the censorship and the irrationality of religion; a world where individual freedom, free inquiry and human reason reign supreme and unfettered by superstition and myth.

Accompanying the humanistic vision of a society constructed upon a purely secular foundation is its reverent, almost idolatrous view of modern science. Humanism entails a virtual worship of Science, or more accurately, Scientism.⁴ It is this commitment to Scientism that contributes most to Humanism's skepticism of religion (especially Christianity) and its near evangelistic fervor to prevent any religious ideas from gaining a foothold in the arena of public policy or the academic mainstream.⁵ The academic imperialism of Secular Humanism is particularly evident in modern medicine, especially in emerging biotechnologies, genetic engineering and bioengineering.

Among the philosophical offspring of Secular Humanism is an emerging philosophy that its adherents call Transhumanism⁶ or Posthumanism. This developing and loosely-defined worldview seeks to take the secular scientism of Humanism much further than the mainline humanists. Transhumanism seeks to redefine what it means to be human, and thus, what human society should look like. It seeks to recast the purposes of science, particularly the science of human medicine, which promises to force us to redefine what is meant by the term "human being" altogether. In this respect, Transhumanism considers historical Secular Humanism to be too elementary and unsophisticated.

By their own definitions,⁷ Transhumanists seek to take humans beyond their current biological limits. They believe that humans can and should strive to higher levels of physical, mental and social function, and that science provides us with the tools to achieve this end. Through the use of nanotechnology, cryonics, uploading intelligence and human consciousness and megascale computers, Transhumanists are committed to developing a new kind of human — the post-human.

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¹ I claim here that both Humanism and Christianity recognize human liberty, although each would justify this claim upon very different grounds. Humanism grounds human freedom in reason alone, while Christianity grounds it in the biblical doctrine of imago Dei, acknowledging the complementary functions of faith and reason.
² Although Humanism does have its religious adherents, its modern forms are predominantly secular and atheistic, hence, when I refer to the basic beliefs of Humanism, I am thinking of them in their most secular, non-theistic sense. Generally, Humanists place most emphasis upon human freedom, confidence in human rationality expressed through science, free inquiry and academic freedom, all of which are best expressed in Democratic Secular Humanism.
³ See Kurtz, P., A Secular Humanist Declaration (1980) Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books. Virtually all modern Humanists hold that the only reality is that which consists of physical properties which can be known using empirical or scientific methodologies.
⁴ Scientism reflects the near religious commitment Humanists make to the scientific enterprise. It is a term use by philosophers in reference to views that consider scientific methodologies as the only ones that are intellectually acceptable; that empirical knowledge is the only acceptable form of knowledge.
⁵ One need only review the federal case law history of Church/State litigation to discern the hostility of Humanism toward religion. This is particularly expressed by the number of humanists who aggressively resist any teaching of creationism, intelligent design or universal moral philosophy in public education.
⁶ Transhumanism or Posthumanism is an emerging philosophy or worldview which seeks to merge evolutionary theories of human development with biotechnology, nanotechnology and artificial intelligence emerging from new theories about human neurology and brain physiology. Among its basic tenets are the use of technology to redesign human beings, to eliminate aging, eliminate limitations on human intelligence, unchosen psychology, suffering and confinement to the planet Earth. Transhumanists advocate the moral right of individuals to use technology to enhance or improve themselves and their offspring, to increase control over their individual lives and to grow beyond the current biological limitations of humankind. (From The Transhumanist Declaration, March 4, 2002 adopted by the World Transhumanist Association, adopted December 1, 2002.
⁷ A review of the following websites provides the reader with insights into exactly how Transhumanists define themselves and their vision for the future of humankind. [www.aleph.se - www. transtopia.org - www.extropy.org]