In a conversation with Grant, Michael Hanby—professor, writer, and postliberal thinker—digs in to the questions that technology as ontology raises. When does technology cease being a tool for human subjects and begin to act upon them as objects? Does technology as ontology serve human persons as a tool, or act upon them as objects? Can a Christian political order coexist with this worldview? In a time when technology has made it possible to change our very bodies in ways that would have been unimaginable to previous generations, are we less human than before?
Can AI Be Our Neighbor? with Noreen Herzfeld
Of the many hopes that society hangs on artificial intelligence, one is its potential to clean up the results of human messiness. Whether on a large scale (solving climate change, reducing war crimes through use of autonomous weapons) or on an individual one (sex robots for isolated people), AI promises to sidestep the problems caused by human limitations.
But in making computers to solve ethical dilemmas and robots to enter relationships, are we creating something in our own image? Is it possible to separate intelligence or emotion from the body? Would the result live up to its promise, or simply be monstrous?
Is Modernity Haunted by Gnostic Ghosts? with Cyril O'Regan
Using the metaphors of anatomy, haunting, and genealogical battles, Cyril and Ryan engage in a conversation ranging from poetry to ancestry to children’s literature, helping to illumine some of the places obscured by the shadow of abandoned heresies and forgetfulness.
How Does Tradition Work? with Anne Carpenter
Anne Carpenter’s latest book, Nothing Gained Is Eternal, was published last month with Fortress Press. In anticipation of the virtual reading group Beatrice Institute is hosting, we are re-releasing her conversation with Ryan on the intersection of history, tradition, art, and theology.
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