Transhumanism in the light of theology, philosophy and science: critical perspectives and Christian metaphysical implications - Adrian Lemeni, Nichifor Tanase

Within Eastern Orthodox tradition, the vision of God (theoptia) as an unmediated experience of the uncreated light and its glory underlines the important role of the nous, the intuitive intellect. It also shows that reason should not be disregarded, but transformed and remodelled based on a virtuous life. The goal of human perfection is the transfiguration of the mind into a mind capable of seeing the Truth, within the context of the process of theosis (becoming like God). Without this divine-human anthropology, academic epistemology is an empty scheme, without substance. It cannot be more than an incomplete and inconsistent primitive epistemology. Theological and symbolistic vocabulary contain expressions of mystical realism. In contrast with a mentality rooted in the ideology that science is supreme, patristic wisdom has established that scientific proof is a much weaker notion than living the truth. Living the truth is a reality given by God, not a mental or conceptual human construct. It transcends human limitations and can face the challenges of an elaborated discourse. Spiritual realities can be intuited via a sense of perception which exceeds empiricism and rational facilities. They become accessible through spiritual experience lived in accordance with the tradition of the Church.

The contributors to this volume testify to the reality of life after death. This teleologic perspective demonstrates that the world would be without sense in the absence of life after death. The existence of life after death is currently supported even in some branches of academic research and science. Mathematicians with interest in philosophy, such as Kurt Gödel (1906-1978), have expressed the conviction that the human soul is immortal and that in the future it will be possible to scientifically demonstrate this. Opposing the metaphysical devaluations resulting from positivism, Gödel aimed to develop a formal metaphysical theory which include the concepts of God and soul..

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