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Abstract
This paper examines radical enhancement and its presupposed concept of morphological freedom from the perspective of current disability studies, revealing the three basic tendencies of a transhumanist anthropology that overemphasizes human rationality, ignores bodiliness, and accentuates individualism, and pointing out that human flourishing is rooted in a pluralistic coexistence that embraces human vulnerability, which underpins the legal regulation of radical enhancement.
Abstract
The development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is advancing quickly in China, and it has challenged our understanding of human nature and personhood. These challenges underlie some of the negative views which some Christians have towards AI, and these negative views have contributed to the resistance to the development of AI among some segments of global society. This article proposes various ways in which the resources of Analytic Theology (the application of analytic philosophy to Christian theology) can help theologians in China address a list of research questions that AI poses for Christian theology, in engagement with Chinese philosophy. These include developing the arguments for substance dualism, which can potentially offer a metaphysical ground for affirming the distinctiveness of human nature and human rights in comparison with AI, an issue which has been debated by secular ethicists and which has significant implications on societal considerations concerning AI.
Abstract
The sex robots (or sexbots) are coming, and this has generated a lot of discussion. The scholarly debate on love & sex with sexbots has been ignited mostly by David Levy’s book in 2007, Love + Sex with Robots: The Evolution of Human-Robot Relationships. There exist many perspectives on sexbots, and one way to assess them is to view this as an embodiment of the transhumanist or posthumanist vision (see Michael Hauskeller’s book, Sex and the Posthuman Condition, in 2014). Some enthusiasts for sexbots such as David Levy espouse a kind of sex robot utopianism that largely mirrors the transhumanist vision of posthuman transformation. Thus, this essay will first introduce transhumanism as well as the major philosophical and theological criticisms of transhumanism. In a second step, it will introduce Levy’s sex robot utopianism and then critically assess his arguments. The critical discussions of both parts will prove to be mutually illuminating and reinforcing.
Abstract
The ideas of transhumanism and Anthropocene supported by contemporary technological developments seem to contradict the Christian understanding of humanity. Based on a review of the relationship between the interpretations of the doctrine of imago Dei and the developments of technology in the Western world, this essay reinterprets the concept of imago Dei in connection with the concept of the “garment of skin” by making references to the Orthodox tradition represented by Maximus the Confessor (579–662). After spelling out its implications for the understanding of the relationship between humanity and technology, this essay explains further how the Confucian understanding of humanity and technology is compatible with and can enrich the Christian understanding. The resultant Chinese Christian understanding of humanity, integrating the traditions of Christian theology and Chinese culture, supports an affirmative and yet critical view of technology and challenges transhumanism and Anthropocene by offering a more adequate and balanced view of technology and humanity.
Abstract
The Ālūsīs of Baghdad were one of the most influential families in the late Ottoman Empire, producing various prolific scholars. They were inspired by Ibn Taymiyya, supported the permissibility of ijtihād, and criticized excessive Sufi practices. Although accused of being Wahhabi owing to their Salafi ideas, they maintained strong ties with the Ottoman state, holding judicial and bureaucratic positions. This article situates the family within the Ottoman imperial framework and explains how they navigated as Salafi scholars in the predominantly Ḥanafī-Māturīdī structure of the Ottoman Empire.
Abstract
This article discusses Jean-Marc Ela’s contribution to Kirdi empowerment in Tokombéré, Northern Cameroon, during the period 1970 and 1984. Drawing on ethnographic data, in-depth interviews and historical biography approach, the article argues that through a mixed methodology of fun, education and critical discourse towards authorities, Ela worked towards the awaking of the subalterns’ consciousness in Tokombéré.
Abstract
Neither the theological perspective of church history nor the “impact–response” framework can sufficiently explain why Catholicism was able to take root in Joseon. Early Joseon converts from Confucianism received a contextualized understanding of Catholicism transformed by Chinese thought. One can describe this as Confucianized or Sinicized Catholicism. The first missionary sent to the Joseon Peninsula was Zhou Wenmo, a Chinese Catholic priest whose interpretation of the development and historical memories of Chinese Catholicism significantly shaped the ways of Joseon’s early converts from Confucianism. China’s historical narrative was so profound that the converted Confucians and other early converts embraced Catholicism, and the vision was constructed from the historical memories of the late Ming and early Qing. Nevertheless, this vision of nationalizing Catholicism was shattered by consecutive persecutions after 1801.