Leading transhumanists, including AI transhumanists, claim to avoid the dangers of utopian perfectionism by advocating gradual "enhancements" of human life, such as super-longevity, super-intelligence, and super-wellbeing. But we cannot know whether these proposals are genuine enhancements without a vision of a perfected future human society. All progress depends upon identifying a goal because, as Aristotle said, "better implies best." In short, there is no reform without utopia.
Professor James Bernard Murphy is a philosopher who teaches in the Department of Government at Dartmouth College, USA. His most recent book is Deification in Classical Greek Philosophy and the Bible (Cambridge UP 2024).
This event is co-hosted with the Priory of the Oslo Dominican Fathers.
