RelatedAdvances in robotics: a new version of the Tower of Babel?

When someone asks what transhumanism is, one could answer with a prediction by the Swede Anders Sandberg, of Oxford University, when he assures that, in the near future, machines will be able to do everything the human brain does. Or when he revealed that the medal he wears around his neck contains instructions to be cryonized before he dies in the hope of being revived in a few thousand years. For these things, among others, he is qualified as a transhumanist.

Its positions do not coincide on many issues with those of the Instituto Razón Abierta, of the Universidad Francisco de Vitoria, nor probably with those of the Instituto Razón Abierta, of the Universidad Francisco de Vitoria. Elena Postigo, director of the Open Reason Congress that takes place today and tomorrow at this university, both online and in person, with an ambitious interdisciplinary program. That is why it will be even more interesting to listen to Sandberg today at the inaugural conference, and to the other experts from various Spanish and foreign universities.

To dive in the transhumanism and to situate this congress, Omnes has interviewed Elena PostigoThe director of the Institute of Bioethics of the same University, who points out that "transhumanism is sometimes spoken of as if it were a homogeneous current, when in fact it is not. Transhumanism has many derivatives, some not as radical as those of the transhumanists.

About the so-called cyborg "There is also discussion," says Elena Postigo. "It would be a synthesis between organic and cybernetic. Personally, I don't share the idea of the cyborg as understood by transhumanists," she says. But let's start at the beginning.

How did the idea of holding this Congress come about? Why transhumanism?

̶ The director of the Open Reason InstituteMaría Lacalle, exactly one year ago, proposed this Congress to me, because I have an open research group on transhumanism at the university, and she thought that transhumanism could be an ideal terrain to address the issues raised by the Open Reason Congress.

The Open Reasoning Institute was born years ago at the University with the aim of promoting reflection, study and discussion among different fields of knowledge, both science, philosophy and theology, in order to achieve what Pope Benedict XVI called open reason, or expanded reason, which reflects the desire to recover the sapiential character of the university task.

That is to say, to recover what the university was, which was the integration of knowledge. We are in an era in which each knowledge studies its own, and does not take care of the rest, so we lose sight of the human being. The Open Reason Institute was born with this purpose, of a reason open to faith, which integrates the different knowledge, and which sees the issues, the cultural currents of our time, from this integrating and sapiential perspective.

We are in an era in which each knowledge studies its own, and does not take care of the rest, so we lose sight of the human being.

Elena Postigo Director of the Institute of Bioethics UFV

And I accepted María Lacalle's proposal, with a program that addresses from basic issues to more specific questions. For example, the limits of science, what problems arise for law, for the family, for all disciplines. We set up working groups by faculties, to find out what topics they were interested in, etc., and this is how the round tables of the Congress came into being. It can be said that the whole University collaborated in order to offer an integrating and critical vision of what transhumanism is, and what challenges it poses for the university and for society in general.

You speak in a thread on his transhuman twitter account Will science soon be in a position to consider this? Are we talking about science fiction or something that has the appearance of reality? Can the alternative really be homo sapiens or cyborg?

̶ This has to be approached centuries ahead. That is, as if the medieval man suddenly landed in our time. Let us imagine a 12th century man landing ten centuries later. The changes he would find would be impressive. We have to make the mental effort of the scenario posed by transhumanism a hundred or two hundred years in the future. My answer is that part of what they propose is plausible, it is not utopian, it could happen. Another part is not. I think there is a part of utopia.

I think that in transhumanism we must distinguish between science fiction things -such as, for example, resurrecting after death, cryogenics-, which I think are utopian, because they are based on wrong theoretical premises, such as thinking that the human being is only matter; and others that we can get to see. Surely there will be a stage, and we are already in it, in which we will consider the possibility of improving the human being, through genetics, nanotechnology, robotics, artificial intelligence, etc. And I think there can be a good use of science and technology.

But there are other things that are not, that I consider to be utopian, and that are not going to be realized. The challenge consists precisely in seeing where the risks are, in guiding science and technology in the service of human beings, also so as not to harm future generations. This is precisely the ethical analysis. But part of it is not utopian, and it can be achieved in a hundred or two hundred years. Another part I don't think it will ever happen.

The challenge is to see where the risks lie, to guide science and technology in the service of human beings, also so as not to harm future generations.

Elena Postigo. Director of the Institute of Bioethics UFV

What implications might transhumanism have for the human being? And for sexuality, or the family? Can you comment on anything, even if it is addressed at the Congress?

There is a relationship between transhumanism and gender bioideology. Transhumanism speaks of the dissolution of genders and sexes. There is an author, Donna Haraway, who sustains this thesis; that is to say, in the future there will be neither male nor female, there will be a cyborg that will not have sex. This has implications for the family, because transhumanism also speaks of ectogenesis, of the artificial uterus.

I am talking about transhumanism as if it were a homogeneous current, when in fact it is not. Transhumanism has many offshoots, some not as radical as those of the transhumanists. In short, it has serious implications for the family. And this is of particular concern to me. Transhumanism and gender ideology connect in a vision of human nature that looks towards self-construction, not as something given, something created, but as something that is self-constructed through my consciousness, my desire and my self-determination to be what I want to become.

Along with what we are talking about, it is also true that domotics, or robotics, can achieve important advances for the quality of life of human beings, especially if they have degenerative diseases. You have referred to this before. However, to what extent could a human construct, such as a cyborg, have emotions, feelings, even consciousness? There are ethical limits...

Science and technology are not evil. They are fruits that have come out of human intelligence, and that, in general, although they can be misused, they have been used so far for the benefit of humanity. These sciences that you point out are going to have a therapeutic use to improve the quality of life of certain people. That is unquestionable and fantastic. What we are talking about, the use of robotics, for example, is not a cyborg.

What is the problem? For example, what could happen if a computer connected to our brain were to come along and give us certain orders that could condition our freedom or our conscience? That is an ethical problem. You ask me about the ethical limits. I cannot give a single criterion now. It is necessary to see, for each of these interventions, exactly what is involved. A genetic alteration is not the same as a connection of the brain to a computer, or a nanotechnological implant, or a nanorobot. They are very different things and that is why a detailed study of each intervention is required, to see its purpose, the means used, etc.

I would say that as ethical criteria, we should always ensure respect for the integrity, life and health of people; we should also ensure that conscience, freedom, privacy and intimacy are safeguarded; and thirdly, we should ensure that all interventions are fair and do not generate more inequality. Or, for example, that they are not discriminatory. There is talk of prenatal eugenics, genetic eugenics, to cite another example.

As ethical criteria, we should always ensure the respect, integrity, life and health of people;

Elena Postigo. Director of the Institute of Bioethics UFV

As for cyborgs?

̶ What is a cyborg? On this there is also discussion. It would be a synthesis between organic and cybernetic. Personally I do not share the idea of the cyborg as understood by transhumanists. A cyborg is an entity that from its origin is an organic-cybernetic synthesis, and that does not have to be human. We are talking about a robot with organic cells, or beings that do not yet exist. And here a whole world arises, which is that of robots, of machines?

Could they ever have a conscience? My answer is no. We could simulate a human intelligence, but we could hardly simulate a creative process or an emotion. This is where we get into what a human being is, which is not just matter. From a materialistic perspective, for them there would be a continuity between a human and a more perfected robot. From a Christian humanist perspective, they are two completely different things. One is spiritual and has a life principle in itself, and the other does not.

RelatedAdvances in robotics: a new version of the Tower of Babel?

"Laudato Si' has been something of a watershed not only for the Church but for the whole world. The influence it has had on the Catholic Church is evident in the many initiatives that have arisen in many local communities in the area of care for creation," says el Fr. Joshtrom Issac Kureethadam, director of the Office of Ecology and Creation of the Vatican Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development, in an interview that will be published in full in Omnes magazine next July.

"This year's Laudato Si' Week showed in some ways how the Encyclical has entered the mainstream of our Catholic communities around the world. Participation was colossal for the online plenary events each day and there have been hundreds and hundreds of local events around the world during Laudato Si' Week," adds Fr. Joshtrom Kureethadam, a Salesian religious.

In his opinion, "Laudato Si' is important especially for its focus on integral ecology. It is not only an environmental text, but also a social encyclical," says the director of the Vatican's Office of Ecology and Creation, who refutes accusations of alarmism: "Civil society and governments around the world have recognized the seriousness of the ecological crisis.

"Unfortunately," he adds, "there are those who see climate change as a 'conspiracy' or think it is alarmist to talk about the crisis of our common home. This is a very unfortunate situation." "Climate science has grown significantly in recent decades and there is a unanimous consensus in the scientific community that the current ecological crisis in the case of climate and biodiversity crises is due to human activities." Fr. Kurethaadam assures that "Pope Francis was assisted by the world's top scientists, including members of the Vatican's Pontifical Academy of Sciences."

Beauty of Creation

At the start of the 10-day celebration of Laudato Si' Week (May 16-25), Catholics recalled the beauty of God's creation, but also the dangers faced by people around the world in taking action on behalf of our common home, recalled Tomás Insua, executive director of the Global Catholic Climate Movement, who summed up the Week in these 60 seconds 

A new species of screech owl was discovered deep in the Amazon rainforest of Brazil. The species was named Megascops stangaie in honor of Notre Dame de Namur nun Dorothy Stang, who was murdered in Brazil in 2005 while working for the Amazon and its people, Insua reports.

"This movement rejoices in the discovery of a new species, but we join the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur and all people of faith in mourning the death of Sister Dorothy Stang and all environmental defenders around the world."

Top 5 of Laudato Si' Week

To learn more about what happened during Laudato Si' Week, five aspects that stood out during these days are highlighted below. Inspired by the slogan, "because we know that things can change," thousands of Catholics worked these days "with hope and with the fervent belief that together we can create a better future for all members of creation," notes the Global Catholic Climate Movement. These are the highlights of these days:

1. Pope Francis' leadershipwho once again led the way, inspiring and encouraging Catholics to participate in the celebration. Months before the event, the Pope encouraged the world's 1.3 billion Catholics to participate through a special video invitation. He repeated his invitation during on May 16The Pope then thanked the millions of people for their participation in the Special Anniversary Year of Laudato Si', and expressed his best wishes to those who had participated in the celebration by tweeting about #SemanaLaudatoSi. Laudato Si' Animators laudatosianimators.org/en/home-en/

2. Catholics and their institutions take action. At the local level, nearly 200 events were recorded in LaudatoSiWeek.org/en worldwide, a growth of more than 200 % compared to Laudato Si' Week 2020. Here are some examples of how Catholics inspired their communities:

- In Trinidad and TobagoIn the midst of an increase in local Covid-19 cases, Catholics served as a light and hope for all the peoples of the Caribbean by virtually uniting them for prayer, reflection and dialogue.

- Fiji's Catholics staged a Daily Laudato Si' Challenge which included planting hardwood fruit trees and flowers to help their food security and reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere.

- In Kenya, Bangladesh, India, Brazil, Australia, the United States, Mexico, East Timor, Vietnam and other countries, Catholics gathered online and in person to share the ways they are living Laudato Si' and to inspire each other to do more for creation.

- In South Korea and the Philippines, week-long activities led to Catholics celebrating Laudato Si' Masses, promoting climate justice projects and participating in climate demonstrations.

– Catholics in Latin America organized webinars that focused the attention of the entire region on internal displacement, the plight of farmers during the climate crisis, and the Escazú Agreement, the region's first international treaty on the environment.

- In Italy, graduated Laudato Si' Animators organized about 700 projects, which included time for prayer and immersion in creation.

3. Laudato Si' Dialogues. The Pentecost Prayer Meeting/Missionary Outreach, led by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, took place on May 23 around the world and was followed by tens of thousands of people on YouTube and Facebook. Throughout the week, as Catholics organized events at the local level, the Laudato Si' Dialogues challenged everyone to examine how we can do more for our common home.

4. Fossil fuel divestment. During Laudato Si' Week 2021, dozens of institutions from 12 countries pledged to divest from fossil fuels. Last year, on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of Laudato Si', the Vatican issued environmental guidelines that frame investment in fossil fuels as an ethical choice, on par with other important ethical choices. Fr. Joshtrom Issac Kureethadam has stated that divestment is a physical, moral and theological imperative. On the other hand, Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, Archbishop of the Diocese of Luxembourg and President of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of EU States (COMECE), pointed out that institutions that choose not to divest risk making their other work ring hollow.

5. Laudato Si' Platform for Action. On May 25, the Vatican officially launched the Laudato Si' Platform for Action, which will empower Catholic institutions, communities and families to implement Laudato Si'. The Pope's initiative invites the entire Catholic Church to achieve total sustainability over the next seven years, as reported by Omnes.

Naturally, after the Ascension of Jesus into Heaven, the Church became continuously concerned about all the problems that mankind is experiencing, especially economic ones. In Spain, it is enough to recall what, in relation to credit and the justification of charging interest rates, gave rise to a wide-ranging debate that developed, in large part, around the University of Salamanca.

But everything related to economics underwent an extraordinary change in the passage from the eighteenth to the nineteenth century, as a result of what emerged precisely then, and from a multitude of points of view. In the scientific field, it is evident that the great revolutionary was Adam Smith, who precisely always placed himself outside theological matters, and that in his biography does not seem to have worried him, perhaps as a consequence of the chaos originated in Scotland from the Puritan revolution, which made it difficult to maintain personal religious attitudes.

Let us remember, moreover, that all this would be linked to the birth of secret societies, and of an intellectual diffusion that refused to follow the advice of the Papacy. And this economy, which was born with all these simultaneous complements, came to guide the general development in two spheres: the British, with regard to the Industrial Revolution -an extraordinary novelty-; and, on the political and social side, the French, with the success that the Revolution ended up having.

And, as a result of continuous links between these novelties, the new reality is created, which is added to an extraordinary scientific progress; from mathematics, to physics or biology, a novelty that also affects what happens in the field of the work factor. In the latter, resistance, even violent, soon appeared to messages that, before attracting powerful attention, generated a shudder. As an added consequence, social indignation had come to have an important scientific support with the singular figure of Karl Marx, so that, in addition, historical materialism was not exactly walking along paths suitable for Catholicism.

Rerum Novarum

Moreover, in Europe, a set of nationalisms that sought doctrinal support far removed from what theology had sustained, was taking root. Add to all this a new political fact: Italy had been born, as a joint and independent nation, with basic approaches radically opposed to the Church, due to the existence of the so-called Papal States, which disappeared by war and the Pope became a prisoner, in Rome, of the new political regime born there.

Faced with this panorama, Leo XIII arrived at the Papacy, seeking some kind of arrangement different from that which, for example, in Spain, through the war, had been sought by Carlism from its Catholicism. It was necessary to react against this variety of enemy situations, and that was the logical justification for Leo XIII, in order to establish the message of the Church in the midst of those novelties, to launch an encyclical with a very significant name, because it was necessary to react against that set of situations, even very hostile ones. To this end, from the philosophical point of view, points of support were sought, on which the encyclical was based. Rerum Novarum

Little by little, Rerum Novarum found that, on the one hand, there was a strong advance in economic science, especially from the point of view of microeconomics, with contributions as notable as those of Walras and Pareto. We then saw the consolidation of a great British economic science - it is enough to think that, for example, nothing less than the son of a Spaniard, Francis Ysidro Edgeworth, contributed notable innovations - not to mention a series of great economists who traveled to glory in a certain great vehicle, later described by Schsumpeter.

On the other hand, this growing group of great economists developed their science in a truly colossal way. And heterodox lines were also emerging from it. Specifically, the search for a new way to resolve the social question created the corporatismThe Catholic Church, which took root in a multitude of conservative political approaches, and which, at the same time, viewed Catholicism with sympathy.

Quadragesimo Anno

This last general atmosphere met with an important political fact: the Pope had been liberated, from the political point of view, with the Lateran Treaty, developed by Mussolini, who, in turn, in order to stop advances derived from Marxism, found it satisfactory that the path of corporatism existed for this purpose.

Without all this, it is hard to understand that this new Pope, Pius XI, with an encyclical already quite a distance away from the Rerum Novarumpublished with notable success the Quadragesimo Annowhich was intended to be the projection of a new situation much more recent than that of Leo XIII.

Remarkable advances of various kinds had been made in economic science. Since Cournot, microeconomics had progressed in the analysis of monopolistic situations, and this had finally advanced through the terrain of the theory of imperfect competition.

The progress of Economic Theory was colossal, and the linking of corporativism with economic nationalism and protectionism led a whole gigantic group of researchers to point out that this path would inevitably lead to a precipice that would liquidate whoever followed it, when falling down it, no matter how popular its leader was, as was the case then of the Romanian Manoilescu. But the roots of the Catholic Church, in a multitude of intellectual aspects, with this line, seemed to consolidate. It is enough to point out, in Spain, all that the Jesuit Father Azpiazu developed in numerous works, courses and polemics.

Saint John Paul II

The political links derived from corporatism during World War II were combined with a remarkable progress in macroeconomics, through models that allowed to guide, at any time, the directors of economic policy.

The change became radical in economic science, and the same is true of the political context, which seems to be linked in some way - at times even very strongly - to the encyclical Quadragesimo Anno. Hence the extraordinary courage of St. John Paul II, to make an extraordinary leap on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Rerum Novarum.

In this regard, it is worth noting an event. St. John Paul II perceived the remarkable progress of economic science and how this had repercussions in a triple sense. In the first place, to promote economic development, very visible throughout the European world not linked to communism, and also in those extensions of the Western world that existed, from the United States or New Zealand to Japan. But a variant also arose within the Church in the Ibero-American world, which was given the name of Liberation Theology. The scientific basis was found in the so-called Latin American economic structuralismThe government, which considered itself a radical enemy of the economic approaches triumphant in the aforementioned world of Europe, North America and Japan, considered it necessary to carry out an authentic political and social revolution full of heterodox nuances, which logically alarmed Rome. And at the same time, they considered it necessary for him to carry out an authentic political and social revolution full of heterodox nuances, which logically alarmed Rome.

A meeting at the Vatican

In view of this situation, a radical change took place, of which I learned a great deal during a long conversation in Madrid with Amartya Sen, a great economist who won the Nobel Prize for Economics and has just received the 2021 Princess of Asturias Award for Social Sciences. Amartya Sen told me that he was astonished, in the field of economics, by the Pontiff's call for a joint meeting to be held at the Vatican.

Practically all those invited, leaving aside their own religious ideas, considered that they should attend the meeting. The list of distinguished guests ranged from Kenneth Arrow, who had won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1972, to Anthony Atkinson, a distinguished professor at the famous London School of Economics and Political Science, to Parta Dasgupta, from Stanford University; it also included Jacques Drèze, from the Catholic University of Louvain, who had a great influence on the training of prominent Spanish economists, without forgetting Peter Hammond, also from Stanford University.

But Harvard University could not be absent, with the presence of Henrik Houthakker; nor could Chicago University, with no less than Robert Lucas; and, from Europe, a member of the College of France, the great Professor of Economic Analysis, Malinvaud; Horst Sievert, from the famous Institute for World Economic Studies in Kiel; Hirofumi Uzawa, from the University of Tokyo; and also, in the existing list was the then Professor Amartya Sen, from Harvard University. Economists from important teaching centers in Italy and Poland also attended the meeting; no Spaniards were invited.

Centesimus Annus

Amartya Sen pointed out to me that they all met in discussions on key points, which were to be noted by the Pope and several senior clerics, for inclusion in the future encyclical, which would be the Centesimus Annus.

To this end, they discussed at length orientations, concrete phrases, appropriate points, continually guided by the Pontiff, in relation to matters of great importance, which almost forced them, at times, to engage in intense polemics; but who also with irony, and with much sympathy and sharpness, participated in the colloquies and guided valuable solutions, was the Holy Father himself. Amartya Sen never ceased to praise me for his reactions and his intelligence. He also emphasized the birth of the opening of the free market economy, which, from that debate, was to be transformed into a very valuable text.

A sample of the general tone praised by Amartya Sen can be found in a letter by Robert Lucas, where he pointed out that St. John Paul II consistently maintained that "underdevelopment depends as much on the precariousness of Civil Rights as on economic errors", and that he also pointed out to the whole meeting that he was not "a connoisseur of technical works on economics, nor did he feel that the Church's duties included prescribing technical solutions to economic issues"; But in the encyclical that was being prepared, it was necessary to contemplate the links that should exist between the Church's social doctrine, the special disposition of each Pontiff and the world of the 21st century, with all its controversies. 

This explains why, in contrast to the aforementioned doctrine, called the Liberation TheologyIn the encyclical there is clearly stated the admission of capitalism as a consequence of the free market economy. The text of the encyclical was as follows: "If by 'capitalism' is understood an economic system that recognizes the fundamental and positive role of commerce, the market, private property and the consequent responsibility for the means of production, as well as free human creativity in the economic sector, the answer will certainly be affirmative.... Now, if by market capitalism if we understand a system where the freedom of the economic sector is not contained by a firm legal framework that places it at the service of human freedom in its totality, and conceives it with a particular aspect of that freedom, the core of which is ethical and religious, then the answer will be clearly negative". The link with the thesis born by a group of German economists and which has been given the name of social market economywas very clear.

In this way, the link with orthodox economic science shines through, and if we look for the right moral conduct for a serious economic policy in St. John Paul II, we have it, as Amartya Sen insisted to me in his very complimentary conversation. For this reason, he deserves a special applause from Catholics, not because he is a Catholic, but because he deserves to receive the 2021 Princess of Asturias Award for Social Sciences in Oviedo.