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LIMINA 3:2 | Digital Transformation | Editorial
Especially from a theological perspective, any such investigation needs to
reach far beyond (socio-)ethic, technological, or political contexts: it is
necessary to broaden the scope and problematise additional dimensions.
̟ What does it mean for something to “exist” as digital content?
̟ What constitutes the existential boundary between empirical and
digital reality?
̟ Can digital products be categories of a hierarchy of being? If yes,
what and how?
Other questions relate to the concept of personhood:
̟ Can digital products represent a person?
̟ Are there scenarios in which digital entities could be considered
“persons”?
̟ Are traditional philosophical and theological determinants of per-
sonhood such as reason, dignity, responsibility, truth, culpability,
creaturehood, etc. even still valid?
A further dimension is that of eschatology.
̟ Christian theology firmly puts the perfection of humankind and the
world in God’s hands. Now, digitisation and technology offer (the-
oretically, so far) new possibilities in the pursuit of self-perfection,
immortality and salvation as suggested by posthumanism and the
idea of “mind-uploading”, for example. How can such visions be
approached from a theological standpoint?
̟ Would such a future create a new form of elite, possibly in contrast
to a newly emerging massa damnata whose lack of resources and
knowledge precludes them from ascending to paradise?
The contributions in this issue tackle these questions and illuminate them
from different perspectives.
We currently experience a period of accelerated societal transformation,
further propelled by the events of 2020. This transformation not only ex-
poses (a) a remarkable affinity amongst otherwise change-averse circles
towards digital means that (at least claim to) make life easier, help protect
the environment, save time, etc., but it is also accompanied by (b) an as-
Limina
Grazer theologische Perspektiven, Volume 3:2
- Title
- Limina
- Subtitle
- Grazer theologische Perspektiven
- Volume
- 3:2
- Editor
- Karl Franzens University Graz
- Date
- 2020
- Language
- German
- License
- CC BY-NC 4.0
- Size
- 21.4 x 30.1 cm
- Pages
- 270
- Categories
- Zeitschriften LIMINA - Grazer theologische Perspektiven