Human Flourishing in a Technological World A Theological Perspective

Human Flourishing in a Technological World addresses the question of human identity and flourishing in the light of recent technological advances. The chapters in Part I provide a philosophical-theological evaluation of changing major anthropological assumptions that have guided human self-understanding from antiquity to modernity: How did we move from a religious and mostly embodied anthropology of the person to the idea that we can upload human consciousness to computing platforms? How did we come to imagine that machines can actually be intelligent, or even learn in human fashion? Moreover, what metaphysical changes explain our mostly uncritical embrace of a technological determination of being and thus of how reality "works"? In Part II, the focus turns to the practical implications of our changing understanding of what it means to be human. Covering some of the most pressing current concerns about human flourishing, these chapters deal with the impact of technology on education, healthcare, disability, leisure and the nature of work, communication, aging, death, and the nature of wisdom for human flourishing in light of evolutionary biology. The volume includes the text of a lecutre by virtual reality engineer and computer scientist Jaron Lanier, and a discussion between Lanier and other contributors.

Jens Zimmermann, J. I. Packer Chair of Theology, Regent College

Jens Zimmermann holds a PhD from the University of British Columbia (Comparative Literature) and also from the Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany (Philosophy). He has published widely in continental philosophy and theology. He previously taught at UBC and Trinity Western University, where he held the Canada Research Chair from 2006 to 2016, and currently is J.I. Packer Chair in Theology at Regent College. He was Visiting Research Fellow at Cambridge (Trinity Hall, 2017-2018), and a British Academy Visiting Fellow at Oxford (Christ Church College, 2018-2019). He is currently Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Theology and Modern European Thought at Oxford and Research Fellow in Historical and Constructive Theology at the University of the Free State, South Africa.

Introduction, Jens Zimmermann
Part I: Confronting the Techno-Vision: Historical and Philosophical Analysis
1. From Living Souls to Software Selves: The Movements of Enchantment Through Western Metaphysics, Robert Doede
2. Oh, That We Might Learn to See Everything Differently: Interrogating a Baconian Spirit, Confessing (In)humanity, Ashley John Moyse
3. Personhood and Technology, Jens Zimmermann
4. The Icon and the Idol: A Christian Perspective on Sociable Robots, Jordan Wales
5. Becoming Human in a Technological World, John Behr
6. Remaining Focused: Human Flourishing and the Mundane in the Emergent Technoculture, Brent Waters
Part II: Practical Implications of Technology for Human Flourishing
7. The Evolution of Wisdom in a Technological World: An Exploration in Nature and Grace, Celia Deane-Drummond
8. Transhumanism, Embodied Cognition, and Psychiatry, Thomas Fuchs
9. Leisure in a Technological World, Clark Elliston
10. Education, Enhancement, and the Pursuit of the Good, David Lewin
11. Human Flourishing, Disability, and Technology, Eleanor McLaughlin
12. Living in the Midst of Death: Theological and Philosophical Reflections on Ageing and Identity, Michael Mawson
13. Death and Glory in a Technological World, Michael Burdett
Part III: Demystifying AI: Toward the Dignified Use of Modern Technology
14. Personhood and Human Flourishing in a Technological World, Jaron Lanier
15. Personhood, Consciousness, and Technology: A Dialogue with Jaron Lanier