Transhumanism and the Body: The World Religions Speak [Paperback]

This collection of original articles, a sequel of sorts to the 2009 Religion and the Implications of Radical Life Extension (Palgrave Macmillan), is the first sustained reflection, by scholars with expertise in the faith traditions, on how the transhumanist agenda might impact the body.Foreword; James J. Hughes Introduction; Calvin Mercer and Derek Maher 1. The Transhumanist FAQ; Nick Bostrom 2. Buddhism; Derek Maher 3. Daoism; Livia Kohn 4. Hinduism 5. Islam; Hamid Mavani 6. Jainism; Christopher Chapple 7. Judaism; Rabbi Elliot Dorff 8. Mormonism; Adam Miller 9. Protestant Christianity; Calvin Mercer 10. Roman Catholic Christianity; James F. Keenan 11. Concluding Reflections; Ron Cole-Turner

It's time for religious folks to take a look at their bodies. Just how valuable is our body? It's time to ask this, because transhumanists are proposing a more highly evolved bodiless existence. Mercer and Maher ask us: do we really want to go there? - Ted Peters, Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences, Graduate Theological Union, USA

Technological progress entails manipulating nature for our own ends, so is easily seen by people of faith as challenging the wisdom of the Creator. But were we not created with the ability and desire to engage in technology? Was it a sin to develop fire, or medicine? These essays will forcefully reassure readers that further technological progress, even if sometimes burdened with the unnecessarily scary label 'transhumanism,' will also be God's work. - Aubrey de Grey, Chief Science Officer, SENS Research Foundation, UK

James J. Hughes, Trinity College, USANick Bostrom, University of Oxford, UKLivia Kohn, Boston University, USAHamid Mavani, Claremont Graduate University, USAChristopher Chapple, Loyola Marymount University, USARabbi Elliot Dorff, American University of Judaism, USAAdam Miller, Collin College, USAJames F. Keenan, Boston College, USARon Cole-Turner, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, USA