Join the IHE for a webinar featuring Father Michael Baggot, L.C., IHE Scholar Jan Bentz, and Wael Taji Miller.
The modern transhumanist movement presents itself as the next stage in human evolution — an inevitable leap toward superintelligence, immortality, and the transcendence of biological limitations. Yet beneath the veneer of technological optimism lies a deeply anti-human ideology: an attempt to reject nature, morality, and the created order in favor of a self-deifying utopia.
Panelists will argue that transhumanism is not merely a technological project but a modernist, Gnostic heresy — one that seeks to replace the human person with a machine-enhanced, artificially engineered being. By drawing from the works of C.S. Lewis, Thomas Molnar, and classical philosophy, they will consider how transhumanism resembles the pagan temptation of self-apotheosis and the Enlightenment dream of complete autonomy, both of which culminate in dehumanization rather than liberation.
As our society enters the brave new era of “artificial intelligence,” bioengineering, and post-human aspirations, it is crucial to confront the deeper implications of this movement. Is transhumanism the “final rebellion” against our nature, or can we still reclaim a vision of human dignity rooted in the reality of our creaturehood?
Key questions to be explored include:
- Is transhumanism a natural extension of technological progress or a fundamental break from human nature?
- How do the transhumanist promises of “perfection” and “immortality” parallel ancient Gnostic and utopian heresies?
- What are the social, ethical, and spiritual consequences of embracing this vision of humanity’s future?
- Can transhumanism truly deliver on its promises or is it doomed to failure by its own contradictions?
