Uploaded January 2019 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
What does it mean to be human? J. Wentzel van Huysteen, in his Gifford lectures, posed the question of whether or not we are “alone in the world?” With advances in artificial intelligence and increasing knowledge in the cognitive sciences, the lines that have traditionally defined human uniqueness are beginning to blur.
What constitutes our humanity—that intrinsic notion that separates us from other animals and machines, the essence that demonstrates we are more than the sum of our biological existence—is becoming less and less clear.
In a sense, we may be witnessing the collapse of Cartesian dualism, the idea of the human being having a spirit or soul that is separate from their physical body, or what philosopher Gibert Ryle has referred to the dogma of the “the ghost in the machine.” Is there more, however? Can religious notions of the soul, mind, and body navigate these new advances in science and technology and even provide meaning and value to them, or will religious notions become obsolete? Are there limits to what AI can achieve, and limits to how science can speak to our humanity?
David Bentley Hart has said that “rational thought—understanding, intention, will, consciousness—is not a species of computation.” Is there a line that, no matter the advances in technology or the passing of evolutionary time, no computer or animal will ever cross? Is it our ability to transcend our biology, to somehow rise above the fetters of our bodily existence and instincts that truly makes us human? Will machines one day rise above their programming?
What it means to be human is one of the most important and pressing questions of our day; as we learn more about our world and ourselves, the answer to this question is becoming ever more complex.
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What does it mean to be human? J. Wentzel van Huysteen, in his Gifford lectures, posed the question of whether or not we are “alone in the world?” With advances in artificial intelligence and increasing knowledge in the cognitive sciences, the lines that have traditionally defined human uniqueness are beginning to blur.
What constitutes our humanity—that intrinsic notion that separates us from other animals and machines, the essence that demonstrates we are more than the sum of our biological existence—is becoming less and less clear.
In a sense, we may be witnessing the collapse of Cartesian dualism, the idea of the human being having a spirit or soul that is separate from their physical body, or what philosopher Gibert Ryle has referred to the dogma of the “the ghost in the machine.” Is there more, however? Can religious notions of the soul, mind, and body navigate these new advances in science and technology and even provide meaning and value to them, or will religious notions become obsolete? Are there limits to what AI can achieve, and limits to how science can speak to our humanity?
David Bentley Hart has said that “rational thought—understanding, intention, will, consciousness—is not a species of computation.” Is there a line that, no matter the advances in technology or the passing of evolutionary time, no computer or animal will ever cross? Is it our ability to transcend our biology, to somehow rise above the fetters of our bodily existence and instincts that truly makes us human? Will machines one day rise above their programming?
What it means to be human is one of the most important and pressing questions of our day; as we learn more about our world and ourselves, the answer to this question is becoming ever more complex.
*************
VISIT US: wycliffecollege.ca
STUDY AT WYCLIFFE:
wycliffecollege.ca/programs-courses/academic-programs
E-NEWSLETTER:
wycliffecollege.ca/newsletter/signup2
FOLLOW US:
FACEBOOK: facebook.com/wycliffetoronto
TWITTER: twitter.com/Wycliffe_UofT
INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/wycliffecollegetoronto
YOUTUBE: youtube.com/user/wycliffeUofT
SoundCloud: soundcloud.com/wycliffe-college
Podcast: wycliffecollege.ca/podcast
CONTACT US:
wycliffecollege.ca/contact
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