Posthuman Transformation in Ancient Mediterranean Thought: Becoming Angels and Demons PDF
Preview Posthuman Transformation in Ancient Mediterranean Thought: Becoming Angels and Demons
Posthuman Transformation in Ancient Mediterranean Thought Becoming Angels and Demons M. David Litwa POSTHUMAN TRANSFORMATION IN ANCIENT MEDITERRANEAN THOUGHT There is not just a desire but a profound human need for enhance- ment – the irrepressible yearning to become better than ourselves. Today, enhancement is often conceived of in terms of biotechnical intervention: genetic modification, prostheses, implants, drug ther- apy – even mind uploading. The theme of this book is an ancient form of enhancement: a physical upgrade that involves ethical prac- tices of self-realization. It has been called ‘angelification’ – a trans- formation 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 ChristianGnostics,thisbookexploresnotonlyhowthesetwoforms ofposthumantransformationarerelated,butalsohowtheyconnect and chasten modern visions of transhumanist enhancement, which generallylack a robust accountof moral improvement. . isResearchFellowattheInstituteforReligionand CriticalInquiry attheAustralianCatholic University inMelbourne. HispublicationsincludeIesusDeus(),DesiringDivinity(), HermeticaII:TheExcerptsofStobaeus,PapyrusFragments,andAncient Testimonies (Cambridge, ) and How the Gospels Became History (). POSTHUMAN TRANSFORMATION IN ANCIENT MEDITERRANEAN THOUGHT Becoming Angels and Demons M. DAVID LITWA AustralianCatholicUniversity UniversityPrintingHouse,Cambridge,UnitedKingdom OneLibertyPlaza,thFloor,NewYork,,USA WilliamstownRoad,PortMelbourne,,Australia –,rdFloor,Plot,SplendorForum,JasolaDistrictCentre,NewDelhi–,India AnsonRoad,#–/,Singapore CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge. ItfurtherstheUniversity’smissionbydisseminatingknowledgeinthepursuitof education,learning,andresearchatthehighestinternationallevelsofexcellence. www.cambridge.org Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/ :./ ©M.DavidLitwa Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements, noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress. Firstpublished AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary. ----Hardback CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracy ofURLsforexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis,orwillremain, accurateorappropriate. All things are full of gods. —Thales in Aristotle, On the Soul ., a All things are full of daimones. —Thales in Aetius, Placita .. All things are full of angels. —Origen, Homily on Ezekiel .. ff For Andy Gu ey and all our rich conversations at SBL All things are full of gods. —Thales in Aristotle, On the Soul ., a All things are full of daimones. —Thales in Aetius, Placita .. All things are full of angels. —Origen, Homily on Ezekiel .. ff For Andy Gu ey and all our rich conversations at SBL Contents Acknowledgments page viii List of Abbreviations ix Introduction: Angels, Daimones, and the Modern Thirst for Transformation Hesiod and Daimonification in the Archaic and Classical Periods Empedocles as Daimon Plato and the Moralization of Daimonification Daimonification in Xenocrates, Plutarch, Apuleius, and Maximus of Tyre Moses Angelified in Philo of Alexandria Origen, Angelification, and the Angelified Jesus Plotinus as a Living Daimon The Angelification of Zostrianos Conclusion: Advent or Apocalypse? Select Bibliography Index vii
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