Teilhard de Chardin and Transhumanism

Journal of Evolution and Technology 20 (1):1-22 (2008)
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Abstract

Teilhard is among the first to seriously explore the future of human evolution. He advocates both bio-technologies (e.g. genetic engineering) and intelligence technologies. He discusses the emergence of a global computation - communication system (and is said by some to have been the first to have envisioned the Internet). He advocates the development of a global society. He is almost surely the first to discuss the acceleration of technological progress to a Singularity in which human intelligence will become super-intelligence. He discusses the spread of human intelligence into the universe and its amplification into a cosmic-intelligence. His work has been taken up by Barrow and Tipler; Tipler; Moravec; and Kurzweil. Of course, Teilhard's Omega Point Theory is deeply Christian. For secular transhumanists, this may be difficult. But transhumanism cannot avoid a fateful engagement with Christianity. Christian institutions may support or oppose transhumanism. Since Christianity is an extremely powerful cultural force in the West, it is imperative for transhumanism to engage it carefully. A serious study of Teilhard can help that engagement and will thus be rewarding to both communities.

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Eric Steinhart
William Paterson University of New Jersey

Citations of this work

The disconnection thesis.David Roden - 2012 - In A. Eden, J. Søraker, J. Moor & E. Steinhart (eds.), The Singularity Hypothesis: A Scientific and Philosophical Assessment. Springer.
What Is Mormon Transhumanism?Lincoln Cannon - 2015 - Theology and Science 13 (2):202-218.
Technologies and Species Transitions: Polanyi, on a Path to Posthumanity?Robert Doede - 2011 - Bulletin of Science, Technology and Society 31 (3):225-235.
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin: a visionary in controversy.Clément Vidal - 2021 - History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences 43 (4):1-10.

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References found in this work

The anthropic cosmological principle.John D. Barrow - 1986 - New York: Oxford University Press. Edited by Frank J. Tipler.
Are We Living in a Computer Simulation?Nick Bostrom - 2003 - Philosophical Quarterly 53 (211):243-255.
Are We Living in a Computer Simulation?Nick Bostrom - 2003 - Philosophical Quarterly 53 (211):243-255.
The Anthropic Cosmological Principle.J. J. C. Smart - 1987 - Philosophical Quarterly 37 (149):463-466.

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