A Critique of Transhumanism in the Context of Merleau-Ponty’s Phenomenology

Abstract

Humanity’s ancient quest for immortality has entered a new phase under modern technological determinism, evolving into a secular ‘theology of salvation’ that seeks to transcend biological limits. This paradigm views the human form as an ‘unfinished project,’ promising disembodied continuity through digital mind uploading. This article critically analyzes the ontological void created by such technological optimism through Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology of the body. The central thesis argues that positioning consciousness as an isolated ‘information set’ falls into a reductionism that severs the subject’s textural bond with the world. In this context, the ‘cortical stack’ technology in Richard K. Morgan’s Altered Carbon is analyzed not merely as a continuation of Cartesian dualism, but as a radical ontological rupture that reduces the soul from a ‘substance’ to mere digital data. Drawing on Merleau-Ponty’s concept of ‘The Flesh’ (La Chair), the research utilizes his famous mosquito example and the metaphor of the painter’s gaze to contend that the ‘reversibility’ (touching-touched) of the body cannot be reduced to a digital simulation. Furthermore, the ‘paradox of pain’ explored through virtual torture reveals that pain is not a mere signal, but a ‘tearing of the existential fabric.’ This paradox exposes transhumanism’s inescapable reliance on bodily sensation even while attempting to discard the physical self. Ultimately, the study asserts that the body is not a replaceable ‘sleeve’ but the active, meaning-generating practice of human presence. In this light, pursuing disembodied immortality represents a phenomenological death—the actual end of the subject’s intentional existence in the world.