2025/01/10 by Jon Bialecki · 1 voice
Arts and Humanities · #Folklore, Mythology, and Literature Studies #Mormonism, Religion, and History #Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices
paper · pdf · doi:10.1017/s0010417524000367
openalex publication_date 2025/01/10 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
Abstract One of the chief debates in the academic study of transhumanism is whether or not this emergent movement that advocates for the technological overcoming of the limits of humanity should be considered religious in nature. This question stems from the fact that, while the vast majority of transhumanists explicitly reject established religion, elements of transhumanism seem strikingly similar to Christian eschatology. This article explores this question by asking how the ontology of an avowedly religious transhumanist movement, the Mormon Transhumanist Association, differs from the informatic ontology identified in secular transhumanism. It shows how contemporary Mormon Transhumanist imaginings of various forms of technological resurrection are informed by the infrastructure and materialist ontology associated with the Mormon practice of “Proxy baptisms” (otherwise known as baptisms for the dead) and other initiatory rituals conducted by proxy on behalf of the deceased. This influence suggests that, at least in this case, there are identifiable differences between secular transhumanism and religious transhumanism that complicate any easy reading of secular transhumanism as being crypto-religion.