A peer-reviewed electronic journal published by the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies ISSN 1541-0099 15(1) - February 2006 Apologia for Transhumanist Religion Gregory E. Jordan, Ph.D. University of South Florida 4202 E. Fowler Ave. #30242 Tampa, Florida 33620 (
[email protected]) http://jetpress.org/volume15/jordan2.htm Abstract This essay introduces the notion of transhumanist religions: their rationale, their context within the history of religions, and some fundamental constraints on their design and definition. Some of the many possible arguments for and against the design of such religions are discussed Religions, religious feelings, and religious experiences have been prominent throughout history in almost all human cultures. Religions, or cultural phenomena which can be analyzed as religions, are still influential elements of culture in all larger human societies. Religions that may resemble the earliest form of religions, those which anthropologists have called ‘primitive’ religions, continue today in some isolated societies. Later types of religions, which incorporated elements of those previous religions, have lasted for thousands of years and continue today. New religions, and new sects of old religions, continue to arise every year. Some of these new religions grow in numbers of adherents, while others eventually dwindle to none and disappear. The evolution of religions is characterized by variations on old themes as well as the introduction of new themes. Concerns and issues that arise in any sphere of a society’s culture can eventually affect religion. In the contemporary world, one of the most prominent cultural trends is the continuing increase in the sophistication, diversity, and multiplying applications of new technologies.