Problem Of Immortality Research Articles

Anthropological aspects of the problem of immortality in modern science fiction literature

The paper deals with the peculiarities of the interpretation of the problem of immortality in the English-language science fiction literature of the late 20th 21st centuries. On the example of the works of R. Sawyer, P. Watts, G. Egan, N. Stevenson, V. Vinge, the author analyzes various ways of considering anthropological aspects of the problem of immortality in science fiction, related to the rethinking of the goals and meaning of existence in the case of the implementation of a transhumanist project to extend the human life. The author concludes that in modern science fiction the theme of immortality is presented in the form of two main options: physical immortality, which implies the impossibility of separating human consciousness from the brain as its material carrier, and digital immortality, associated with a hypothetical technology for scanning consciousness and moving it into a virtual world. Considering these options for immortality, science fiction writers discover in them both technological and humanitarian problems: firstly, it is the unattainability of real immortality, associated with the finiteness of the existence of the universe and (in the second version) with the technical impossibility of eternally ensuring the functioning of the virtual world. Secondly, this is the problem of the semantic fullness of immortal existence, recognized by all the listed writers, associated with the need for a person to set new long-term goals, and, in the case of digital immortality, the problem of rethinking by a person who has turned into pure consciousness, his own nature and acceptance of virtual reality as the only option for him. In general, the ways of revealing the theme of immortality in modern science fiction literature make it possible to see in the transhumanist concepts of immortality a serious anthropological problem related to the fact that the improvement of a persons physical and intellectual abilities will have to entail a change in his consciousness and self-awareness, but to predict the character and the result of such changes is much more difficult than to predict the results of physical modifications of the human body.

Постгуманизм и проблема бессмертия: социально-философский анализ

The article is devoted to the analysis of the problem of immortality in the context of the philosophy of posthumanism. The problem of immortality has always worried humanity. In fairy tales and myths, religious systems and scientific research, it occupies a central place, which relates to the natural desire of a person to live forever. In the philosophy of posthumanism, this problem acquires new meanings, moving from a purely speculative metaphysical field to the sphere of practice. The development of NBICS technologies contributes to this metamorphosis. Processes such as digitalization, the creation of artificial intelligence, the development of genetic engineering, cloning, the design of cyborgs and android robots, and cryonization force us to take a fresh look at the problem of immortality. If in the religious consciousness the immortality of a person is interpreted as spiritual immortality – eternal life after the physical death of the body, then in the worldview of posthumanism and immortalism we are talking about bodily immortality, which modern technologies are capable to bring to life. Thus, a value reorientation takes place in the consciousness of a person, shifting the emphasis from the future afterlife to the current present life. As a result, not only the perception of life is changing, but also the whole model of social behavior. Such traditional values as family and children, gender identity and procreation are fading into the background, leaving a place for the values of posthumanism, which consider a person as an intermediate stage on the path to perfection, that is, to a posthuman.

Russian cosmism and transhumanism in the polemic between anthropological voluntarism and providentialism

Comprehension of the finitude of individual existence entails the need to find the answer to question of overcoming death, a salvation path that would allow pass through the abyss of nonexistence. Solution to this question implies various forms of immortality: naturalistic, theological, technocratic, creative, sensually-transcendental, etc. Prolongation of life and gaining immortality has become a central problem of such philosophical movements as Russian cosmism and modern transhumanism, which view the victory over death as the project and purpose of mankind. The object of this research is the ethical content and key ideas of the philosophy of Russian cosmism and modern transhumanism. The subject is the origins and evolution of transhumanist worldview in its genetic link with the ideas of cosmic philosophy. This article aims to analyze the methods and means of how a human can improve and obtain immortality, which are advanced by transhumanists, and juxtapose them with the ideas of Russian cosmist philosophers. The conclusion is made that the central idea of cosmism and transhumanism, which lies in overcoming the finitude of human existence, does not find its global humanistic realization: both concepts offer partial and unnatural solutions (autotrophy, resurrection, cyborgization). Emphasis is placed on solution of the problem of immortality in the Christian anthropology in spiritual-moral ethical-philosophical context

ІСТОРИКО-ФІЛОСОФСЬКІ СМИСЛИ РОЗВИТКУ ІДЕЇ БЕЗСМЕРТЯ В РАННЬОМУ ХРИСТИЯНСТВІ

Immortalism in historical and philosophical manifestation is one of the central categories of philosophical anthropology, the relevance of with persists over the centuries. The study of various aspects of individual human immortality in scientific research goes beyond the classical philosophical paradigms and becomes the object of new scientific schools and areas of research, including cryonics, bioethics, gerontology, etc. Despite this fact, the historical and philosophical retrospection of this problem does not disappear from the range of discovery of new scientific interpretations and approaches to understanding the essence of the problem of immortality. The main focus of the study is on the ideological heritage of early Christianity. Christianity as a world religion has played a significant role in transformation of the collective and national consciousness of European peoples. The fundamental principles of the formation of immortological guidelines are closely connected with Christianity, in particular, with the idea of the immortality of the soul. Despite the absence of a clear dogma about the immortality of the soul in early Christianity, with was repeatedly emphasized in the works of such researches as K. Lamont, I. Sventsitskaya [based on a materialistic understanding of being), as well as Z. Kosidovski, M. Kublanov, A. Kuraev [based on the theological approach], the problem of the immortality of the soul in the process of the transformation of Christianity has become the main platform of the doctrine. Since the appearance of canonical gospel texts, as well as early apologetic works, the concept of the immortality of the soul is presented as an element brought from non-Christian ideas, in particular in the works of Arnobius, Tatian, Theophylact, Origen of Alexandria. The idea of the immortality of the soul has acquired a clear formulation in the depths of classical Greek philosophical thought, in particular, in Plato's numerous dialogues, the work of Aristotle, as well as in the work of the Neoplatonists. Despite the ideological opposition of Christianity to ancient philosophy, the cosmogony of with differed from Christian doctrine, the influence of ancient ideas about the immortality of the soul significantly iffluenced the foundations of the Christian worldview.

Трансгуманизм и проблема бессмертия

Трансгуманизм и проблема бессмертия

Mysticism in the Poetry of Emily Dickinson: A Theological Interpretation

This paper is an attempt to analyze the poetry of Miss Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) in order to reveal the extent of mysticism in it, and it focuses on the concept of theology. Mysticism involves a deep, almost obsessive, concern with such problems as death, the existence of the soul, immortality, the existence of God and heaven, salvation or redemption, etc. The critical approach was used to analyze some of Dickinson’s major poems. A glance at her poetry reveals that it shows an extreme preoccupation with the effect of death and explores various themes such as the nature of the soul, the problem of immortality, the possibility of faith and the reality of God. The researchers also tried to reveal the internal and external influences that shaped Dickinson’s poetry. The paper concluded that the theme of death was inexhaustible for her. If her poetry seldom became “lyrical,” seldom departed from the colorless sobriety of its bare iambics and toneless assonance, it did so most of all when the subject was death. Although Dickinson’s poetry contains some mystical elements, mystical poetry, in the traditional sense, at least, is not her special poetic gift.

Para O Universo Nada, Para Mim Tudo: Perspectivas Sobre a Morte

Abstract Our aim is thinking death exploring several reasons of the inquiry. One can see the mystery of death like Aristotle - death is the end of sensations - but also like many others who talk about something that is presence I absence or absence /presence, or even think about the possible evil of death. But is not possible to avoid the problem of immortality or the idea that we saw ourselves like someone who says: I am nothing to the universe but everything to me.

Unsterblichkeit der Seele versus Ganztodthese? — Ein Grundproblem christlicher Eschatologie in ökumenischer Perspektive

In dealing with a central problem of Christian eschatology Protestant and Catholic theologians have proposed significantly different solutions in recent years: while we find a conscious distancing from the notion of the immortality of the soul in Protestant theology, this notion is largely reinterpreted but not discarded by Catholic theologians. How should we interpret these findings? Does the fact of the difference between the approaches point to different forms of expression of the Christian consciousness of faith? Or should we interpret the difference merely as different dogmatic interpretations of a shared Christian hope? In order to assess these findings this essay develops the theme in four parts. First of all, the background and the reasons for seeing the immortality of the soul as a problem in modernity are re-assessed. Secondly, the significance of the crisis of classical metaphysics for the dogmatic exposition of eschatology is examined. The third part offers a sketch of the main tenets and aporias of the Christain hope of resurrection. The fourth part presents an attempt at providing herme-neutic clarification on the problem of immortality of the soul in ecumenical perspective.

O Argumento Ontológico em Platão

This article, The ontological argument in Plato: (I) the problem of immortality, discusses the interpretation of Socrates’ last demonstration of the immortality of the soul in the Phaedo as an ”ontological argument” and tries to refute this interpretation through an examination of the concept of immortality in Plato and its implications on the central relation soul/life. At the same time, it argues that the ontological argument should be seen as the very back-bone of Plato’s ontology, a point of view which will be developed in a forthcoming paper.

The immortality problem for Lag systems

An undecidability property of cellular automata [3,2] is reduced to the immortality problem for Lag systems [4]. Thus a simple proof settles an open problem raised by Hooper in 1966 [4]. For a Lag system, let k be the number of symbols on the left side of each rule and r be the maximum number of symbols on the right side of a rule. We show that the immortality problem (IP) is undecidable in general even for Lag systems with k=2 and r=1. It is clear that the IP is decidable for Lag systems with either k=1[8] or r=0. Thus, the IP for Lag systems is now settled for all possible k and r.

Immortality problem for post machines

Immortality problem for post machines

Undecidability of the immortality problem for turing machines with three states

Undecidability of the immortality problem for turing machines with three states

Degrees of unsolvability associated with Markov algorithms

The degree representations of the general halting, word, and confluence problems for Markov algorithms are investigated. Each of these problems is shown to represent every r.e. (recursively enumerable) many-one degree but not every r.e. one-one degree of unsolvability. In the course of proving this we also show that every total recursive function is computed by a Markov algorithm which always halts and that the immortality problem for the class of Markov algorithms is Σ2o-complete.

Decision problems for tag systems

The aim of this paper is to study tag systems as defined by Post [Post 1943, pp. 203–205 and Post, 1965, pp. 370–373]. The existence of a tag system with unsolvable halting problem was proved by Minsky by constructing a universal tag system [Minsky 1961, see also Cocke and Minsky 1964, Wang 1963, and Minsky 1967, pp. 267–273]. Hence the halting problem of a tag system can be of the complete degree 0′. We shall prove that the halting problem for a tag system can have an arbitrary (recursively enumerable) degree of undecidability (Corollary III).A related problem arises when we ask if there exists a uniform procedure for determining, given a tag system, whether or not there is any word on which the tag system does not halt, an “immortal” word in the system. The alternative, of course, being that the system eventually halts on every (finite) word. It is shown here that this problem, the immortality problem for tag systems, is recursively unsolvable of degree 0″ (Corollary II).

A simple solution of the uniform halting problem

The uniform halting problem (UH) can be stated as follows.Give a decision procedure which for any given Turing machine (TM) will decide whether or not it has an immortal instantaneous description (ID).An ID is called immortal if it has no terminal successor. As it is generally the case in the literature (see e.g. Minsky [3, p. 118]) we assume that in an ID the tape must be blank except for some finite numbers of squares. If we remove this restriction the UH becomes the immortality problem (IP). The UH should not be confused with the initialised uniform halting problem (whether or not a TM has an immortal ID when started in a specified state) which can easily be shown to be undecidable (see e.g. Minsky [3, p. 151]).

Autobiographies of Ten Religious Leaders: Alternatives in Religious Experience by Radoslav A. Tsanoff

184 BOOK REVIEWS logically on the second, which in turn serves the first as support and language." (p. 56) The author shows considerable respect for the traditions of different churches on the question of inter-communion, but he definitely thinks the time has arrived for moving beyond the present practice to an actual sharing of the one bread. Thurian attempts to give some theological support for this plea by his view that faith is a " process " and not simply adhesion to a series of statements of belief. Traditional Catholic theology is familar with the distinction between implicit and explicit faith. Thus Thomas Aquinas and a peasant in medieval Sicily may have both belonged to the sames church, but the level of the explicitness of their faith varied widely. Thurian wants to apply this distinction to the question of intercommunion between churches today. The fulness of truth regarding the Eucharist is an eschatological goal toward which the doctrines of different churches tend. Therefore, it seems in order that the Catholic or Orthodox Churches, heretofore opposed to inter-communion, should feel free to allow inter-communion at least occasionally to members of other churches whose Eucharistic teaching they view as less complete or explicit. Thurian adduces no substantiation for this position from Vatican II. Certainly no student of the conciliar documents would expect any direct support from that source. However, Vatican II did place new emphasis on the historical or " process " aspect of the Church. The Church as the People of God has a past and moves forward to its future. Then too, the concilar decree on ecumenism acknowledges in an unprecedented way the theological importance of other Christian churches. These churches, Protestant as well as Orthodox, have some ecclesiological meaning as churches and not just as collections of good but invincibly ignorant Protestants or Orthodox. These considerations, in this reviewer's opinion, should lead the Catholic Church to a renewed evaluation of its traditional opposition to inter-communion. If Thurian's little book helps lead to this reconsideration of positions, it will have more than made its publication worthwhile. Berkeley Priory Berkeley, California PETER DEMAN, 0. P. Autobiographies of Ten Religious Leaders: Alternatives in Religious Experience . By RAnosLAV A. TBANOFF. San Antonio: Trinity University Press, 1968. Pp. 804. $7.00. Radoslav Tsanoff was born in Sofia, Bulgaria, and emigrated to the United States as a young man in 1908. He graduated with honors from Oberlin College and in 1910 received his doctorate in philosophy from BOOK REVIEWS 185 Cornell University. Practically his entire professional life has been spent at Rice University as a professor of philosophy. Since 1961 he has been a Distinguished Trustee Professor of Humanities at Rice University. Among his previously published works the following titles deserve special mention: The Problem of Immortality: Studies in Personality and Value (19~4); Religious Crossroads (1942); The Moral Ideals of Our Civilization (1942; second impression 1947); Ethics (1947; revised edition 1955); The Great Philosophers (1953; second edition 1964). Professor Tsanoff's most recent work, prior to the present volume, was Worlds to Know: A Philosophy of Cosmic Perspectives (1962) . In the present volume Professor Tsanoff offers an ecumenical panorama of outstanding religious personalities, starting with St. Augustine and terminating with Pope John XXIII. He does not restrict himself to Catholic figures nor even to European Christians, although he does exclude from his study the Oriental mysticism of Asia and India. Thus, the reader will find in this volume a stirring account of the religious experiences of ten Christians who have emerged influential leaders in the course of the centuries: St. Augustine, St. Teresa of Avila, George Fox, John Bunyan, John Wesley, Cardinal Newman, Ernest Renan, Leo Tolstoy, Albert Schweitzer and Pope John XXIII. As in any selective anthology, readers may argue about the inclusion or emission of certain individuals. Some may be unwilling to admit that Bunyan, Renan and Tolstoy deserve to be classified as religious leaders in Christianity. Others may be disappointed to find that Professor Tsanoff omitted from his list such persons as St. Paul, St. Jerome, Luther, St. John of the Cross, Calvin, Fr. Liebermann, St. Therese of Lisieux, de Foucauld, and others. Perhaps the historian of Christian spirituality...

The unsolvability of the uniform halting problem for two state Turing machines

The uniform halting problem (UH) can be stated as follows:Give a decision procedure which for any given Turing machine (TM) will decide whether or not it has an immortal instantaneous description (ID).An ID is called immortal if it has no terminal successor. As it is generally the case in the literature (see e.g. Minsky [4, p. 118]) we assume that in an ID the tape must be blank except for some finite number of squares. If we remove this restriction the UH becomes the immortality problem (IP).

The Immortality Problem for Post Normal Systems

A natural problem, related to the (known unsolvable) halting problem for Post normal systems, arises when one considers, for a given Post normal system, whether the system halts (eventually) on every word over its alphabet. For polygenic systems, this problem is shown to be recursively unsolvable by constructing a reduction from the “Domino Problem.”

The undecidability of the Turing machine immortality problem

A Turing Machine (TM) is an abstract, synchronous, deterministic computer with a finite number of internal states. It operates on the set of infinite words, or tapes, over some finite alphabet, scanning exactly one symbol of the tape at a time. (Only a 2-symbol alphabet, consisting of “0” and “|”, will be considered here, and the scanned symbol of a tape will be distinguished by an underscore.) depending upon its internal state and the symbol under scan, it can perform one or more of the following operations: replace the scanned symbol with a new symbol, focus its attention on an adjacent square, and transfer control to a new state.

The Problem of Immortality

In the Platonic Phaedo, just as Socrates has closed his long speech with the sublime words about the journey of the soul after death, and its ultimate goal, Crito, his old friend — who does not seem to understand very much of the higher aspects of the matter, but is the more versed in worldly affairs, somewhat abruptly breaks the serene atmosphere with some practical questions, among them in what manner Socrates wishes to be buried. After his wont, Socrates answers, alike courteously and ambiguously, “Just as you please, if only you can catch me, and I do not escape from you.” He adds, with a smile, that he cannot convince Crito that he is the Socrates who is then conversing with his friends, and who will not remain after having drunk the poison. “Crito,” he says, “thinks that I am he whom he will shortly behold dead, and asks how he should bury me. But that which I some time since argued at length, that when I have drunk the poison I shall no longer remain with you, but shall depart to some happy state of the blessed, this I seem to have urged to him in vain, though I meant at the same time to console both you and myself. Be ye then my sureties to Crito,” he said, “in an obligation contrary to that which he made to the judges; for he undertook that I should remain; but do you be sureties that, when I die, I shall not remain, but shall depart, that Crito may more easily bear it, and when he sees my body either burnt or buried, may not be afflicted for me, as if I suffered some dreadful thing, nor say at my interment that Socrates is laid out, or is carried out, or is buried.” It is improper to speak of Socrates' dead body as if it were Socrates himself.