Transhumanist Religious Experience: Beyond Secular Faith?
Saved in:
| Title: | Transhumanist Religious Experience: Beyond Secular Faith? |
|---|---|
| Authors: | Horváth, Márk (AUTHOR), Lovász, Ádám (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | Zygon: Journal of Religion & Science. Mar2026, Vol. 61 Issue 1, p158-177. 20p. |
| Subjects: | Transhumanism, Religious experience, Revelation, Faith, James, William, 1842-1910, Religiousness, Transcendence (Philosophy), James (Book : Everett) |
| Abstract: | In this article, we advance a case for considering transhumanism as a religion. Following William James, we think of "religion" as a set of experiences that define and shape one's identity. These may include peak experiences, the feeling of transcendence, and also access to previously hidden knowledge, or gnosis. In James's view, mystical experiences in particular include feelings of ineffability (partial or complete incommunicability), noesis (secret knowledge), and transience and passivity (subordination to a higher power). Using a religious studies framework gleaned from James, we critically examine transhumanism, with an eye towards answering the question of how religious experiences figure into transhumanism, in so far as it functions as a religion. Specifically, we are interested in how transhumanists themselves describe their experiences through the lens of their diverse, often (but not always) explicitly secularist belief systems. Intellectual historian Hava Tirosh-Samuelson has argued for conceiving of transhumanism generally as a "secular faith." Building on cultural anthropologist Jon Bialecki's work on Mormon transhumanism, we argue that the complex technological circumstances of the early twenty-first century have resulted in a technognostic form of religiosity that blends a belief in human technological prowess with a religiously motivated hope for transcendence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Zygon: Journal of Religion & Science is the property of Open Library of Humanities and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
|
Full text is not displayed to guests.
Login for full access.
|
|
| Abstract: | In this article, we advance a case for considering transhumanism as a religion. Following William James, we think of "religion" as a set of experiences that define and shape one's identity. These may include peak experiences, the feeling of transcendence, and also access to previously hidden knowledge, or gnosis. In James's view, mystical experiences in particular include feelings of ineffability (partial or complete incommunicability), noesis (secret knowledge), and transience and passivity (subordination to a higher power). Using a religious studies framework gleaned from James, we critically examine transhumanism, with an eye towards answering the question of how religious experiences figure into transhumanism, in so far as it functions as a religion. Specifically, we are interested in how transhumanists themselves describe their experiences through the lens of their diverse, often (but not always) explicitly secularist belief systems. Intellectual historian Hava Tirosh-Samuelson has argued for conceiving of transhumanism generally as a "secular faith." Building on cultural anthropologist Jon Bialecki's work on Mormon transhumanism, we argue that the complex technological circumstances of the early twenty-first century have resulted in a technognostic form of religiosity that blends a belief in human technological prowess with a religiously motivated hope for transcendence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 05912385 |
| DOI: | 10.16995/zygon.24239 |
