Posthuman Transformation in Ancient Mediterranean Thought
Becoming Angels and Demons

Ancient theories of posthuman transformation can shape, chasten, and reform modern (biotechnical) theories of posthuman enhancement.

M. David Litwa (Author)

9781108926058, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 10 March 2022

205 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.2 cm, 0.32 kg

'… the book will be of great interest to specialists in a variety of subfields, from scholars and students working on ancient Mediterranean religions - including of course Judaism and early Christianity - to anthropologists and sociologists who study ideas of human transformations across the globe in both past and present.' Nickolas P. Roubekas, Religious Studies Review

There is not just a desire but a profound human need for enhancement - the irrepressible yearning to become better than ourselves. Today, enhancement is often conceived of in terms of biotechnical intervention: genetic modification, prostheses, implants, drug therapy - even mind uploading. The theme of this book is an ancient form of enhancement: a physical upgrade that involves ethical practices of self-realization. It has been called 'angelification' - a transformation by which people become angels. The parallel process is 'daimonification', or becoming daimones. Ranging in time from Hesiod and Empedocles through Plato and Origen to Plotinus and Christian gnostics, this book explores not only how these two forms of posthuman transformation are related, but also how they connect and chasten modern visions of transhumanist enhancement which generally lack a robust account of moral improvement.

Preface
Introduction. Angels, daimones, and the modern thirst for transformation
1: Hesiod and daimonification in the Archaic and Classical periods
2. Empedocles as daimon
3. Plato and the moralization of daimonification
4. Daimonification in Xenocrates, Plutarch, Apuleius, and Maximus of Tyre
5. Moses angelified in Philo of Alexandria
6. Origen, angelification, and the angelified Jesus
7. Plotinus as a living daimon
8. The angelification of Zostrianos
Conclusion: Advent or apocalypse?

Subject Areas: Christian theology [HRCM], Philosophy of religion [HRAB], Western philosophy: Ancient, to c 500 [HPCA]