Humanity in the Digital Age: The Challenges of Artificial Intelligence, Transhumanism, and Genetics The purpose of the book
is to contribute to the formation of an appropriate philosophical
and theological anthropology for the modern digital age. The author starts from the point of view that the task of critical (public)
humanities is the defence of human being and humanity against
development trends, doctrines and ideologies that threaten them.
This mission and the potential of critical humanities are particularly important in the current technological age, when the humanity of a human being is under threat as radically as it has never
been before, not only on a practical level but also on a principled and ideological level, on the level of the very understanding
of humanity and the importance of its consideration as a value.
With the development of artificial intelligence, digitalization and
cognitive science, the humanistic understanding of human being
is increasingly being called into question. This understanding is
based on the idea of human being as a being for whom embodiment, aliveness and embodied freedom are essential, enabling him
to live a self-determining existence. This understanding is increasingly displaced by the scientistic view of human being, who sees
humans as a product of algorithms and data. In terms of the »human being-machine« relationship, scientism is dual-oriented: on
the one hand, it promotes the understanding of a human as a machine, and on the other hand, the anthropomorphisation of machines, the understanding of machines as actually having some specifically) human characteristics and capabilities. The scientistic image of a human must therefore be subjected to critical research. We must examine the assumptions on which scientism is
based and try to refute them and thus (indirectly) defend a humanistic understanding of a human. We also prove the humanistic
image of a human on the positive side, with research into the necessity and importance of the body for humanity and the human
way of being. In the book, the author uses both methods in defending the humanism of embodiment, which is based on the anthropology of embodiment (Thomas Fuchs). He understands human being as an embodied created being, an essentially relational
being, embedded in their world, transcendent in nature, and open
to the world and transcendence. Human’s unavailability is essential to their humanity. Unavailability means that a human being,
insofar as they exist as a human and is recognized as such, always
has a certain independence and autonomy, and is not completely
available as a bare means. If we respect human being and their dignity, then our attitude must be in accordance with this unavailability, we must take it into account and acknowledge it in our attitude towards a human.
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