From Human to Posthuman

FROM HUMAN TO POSTHUMAN

Technology is one of the dominant forces shaping the emerging postmodern world. Indeed the very fabric of daily life is dependent upon various information, communication and transportation technologies. With antici- pated advances in biotechnology, artificial intelligence and robotics, that dependence will increase. Yet this growing dependence is accompanied with a deep ambivalence. For many, technology symbolizes the faith of the postmodern world, but it is an ambivalent faith encapsulating both our hopes and fears for the future. This book examines the religious foundations underlying this troubled faith in technology, as well as critically and constructively engaging particular technological developments from a theological perspective. Ashgate Science and Religion Series Series Editors: Roger Trigg, Department of Philosophy, University of Warwick, UK J. Wentzel van Huyssteen, James I. McCord Professor of Theology and Science, Princeton Theological Seminary, USA Science and religion have often been thought to be at loggerheads but much contemporary work in this flourishing interdisciplinary field suggests this is far from the case. The Ashgate Science and Religion Series presents exciting new work to advance interdisciplinary study, research and debate across key themes in science and religion, exploring the philosophical relations between the physical and social sciences on the one hand and religious belief on the other. Contemporary issues in philosophy and theology are debated, as are prevailing cultural assumptions arising from the ‘post-modernist’ distaste for many forms of reasoning. The series enables leading international authors from a range of different disciplinary perspectives to apply the insights of the various sciences, theology and philosophy and look at the relations between the different disciplines and the rational connections that can be made between them. These accessible, stimulating new contributions to key topics across science and religion will appeal particularly to individual academics and researchers, graduates, postgraduates and upper-undergraduate students.

Other titles published in this series: Theology and Psychology Fraser Watts 0 7546 1672 X (hbk) 0 7546 1673 8 (pbk) Islam and Science Muzaffar Iqbal 0 7546 0799 2 (hbk) 0 7546 0800 X (pbk) Science, Theology, and Ethics Ted Peters 0 7546 0824 7 (hbk) 0 7546 0825 5 (pbk) Theology and Modern Physics Peter E. Hodgson 0 7546 3622 4 (hbk) 0 7546 3623 2 (pbk) From Human to Posthuman

Christian Theology and Technology in a Postmodern World

BRENT WATERS Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, USA First published 2006 by Ashgate Publishing

Published 2016 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA

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Brent Waters has asserted his moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work.

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Waters, Brent From Human to Posthuman: Christian Theology and Technology in a Postmodern World. – (Ashgate Science and Religion Series) 1. Christian ethics. 2. Technology – Moral and ethical aspects. 3. Technology – Religious aspects – Christianity. I. Title 241

US Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Waters, Brent From Human to Posthuman: Christian Theology and Tech