This study offers religious reflection on the problem of de-humanization in the era of the 4th industrial revolution, and suggests an alternative to this problem. The 4th Industrial Revolution actualizes de-boundary. It is a production system that c ...
This study offers religious reflection on the problem of de-humanization in the era of the 4th industrial revolution, and suggests an alternative to this problem. The 4th Industrial Revolution actualizes de-boundary. It is a production system that captures and renews the entire ecosystem as well as a public and private living space. At the ideological core of the 4th Industrial Revolution lies the de-boundary and convergence across interdisciplinary boundaries. And this ideological trend is leading the academic trend of today's post-humanism or post-anthropocentrism. It is no different from the perception that technical de-boundary eventually causes the de-boundary of human beings. However, since the scientific and technological development of the 4th Industrial Revolution is progressing in conjunction with the capitalist production and consumption system, post-human cannot be free from de-humanization that is an inevitable problem of capitalist industrialization. This study believes that the 'post-human' tradition of religion can be an important tool to reflect on the new notion of ‘post-human’ in the era of the 4th industrial revolution. From this, this study examines the de-humanization phenomena that may appear in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution in various fields of theology - dialogue between religion and science, philosophical theology, Christian ethics, feminist theology, biblical theology, Christian education, Christian psychology, and Christian liberal arts -, and critically synthesizes them to seek alternatives.
In addition, this study reflects on the problem of "non-human" from the perspective of a non-first world and establishes a methodology that critically and reflectively fuses this achievement with "post-human" discourse in the era of the 4th industrial revolution. The core problem consciousness of this research team lies in the fact that the waves of the 4th industrial revolution and the voices of 'post-human' are constructed from the perspective of the first world. No matter how much this wave and this voice consider post-human beings (women, cyborgs, the disabled, animals, etc.), even that does not deviate much from confirming the subjectivity of the first world. From the perspective of the non-first world, even "post-human" is still centered on white, middle-class men in the Western world in that it should be included in their goal of restoring humanity. This position in the non-first world is also a new ability to interpret post-human implications differently overall. Here, our research team proposes the 'new' interpretation capability of the non-first world through the revision of the concept of 'non-human' or 'de-humanization.’ De-humanization, discussed in the era of modern industrialization, is a term that explains humans suffering from not reaching the idealization of modern Western white middle-class men. On the other hand, the “post-human" of posthumanism presents the bond and hybridity between ‘non-human’ beings and ‘human’ beings to overcome modern ‘humans.’ Therefore, post-human discourses deal with ‘non-human,’ not ‘de-human.’ In two meanings, the 'non-human' of the non-first world provides a new hermeneutical ability. First, non-human in the non-first world can reveal the extreme situation of de-humanization, which is accelerated by the era of posthumanism. Second, it can create hybrid and abject post-human beings, overcoming modern 'humans'.
Furthermore, this study proposes religious self-reflection and response to short- and long-term prospects related to the human situation of the 4th Industrial Revolution. After reviewing the "de-human" of the 4th Industrial Revolution from the dual perspective of exposure and overcoming, it is asked how much religion can withstand the power of criticism from these perspectives. This study was conducted in conjunction with a wide range of multidisciplinary studies in the field of theology on theological concepts such as theological human, eternal life, sacredness, messianism and so on. Through this, theological self-reflection could be embodied. In addition, the boundaries between genetics, nanotechnology, and robotics could be reviewed in real time, along with tracking the concrete and dynamic reality of religion in the era of the 4th industrial revolution.