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Von Hügel Institute

for Critical Catholic Inquiry
 

Wonder is the capacity of the mind and heart to be seized by the breadth of reality. The ancient Greeks regarded wonder as the basis of philosophy because it undergirds the ultimate homecoming by which one returns to the depth of being. The human capacity to be drawn by that which seizes us renders wonder an integral aspect of our transcendent nature. Yet it is precisely this transcendent nature that is in transition today with the rise of artificial intelligence. Computer technology destabilizes our spacetime coordinates and thus our capacity for the breadth and depth of being. While the body is in a particular location, the mind can travel through multiple informational fields, giving way to a type of cybertranscendence that ultimately flattens out the soul. This paper will explore digital dualism and cybertranscendence in view of the mystics and the role of divine presence in the pursuit of catholicity.   

Ilia Delio, OSF currently holds the Josephine C. Connelly Endowed Chair in Theology at Villanova University and has authored or co-authored eighteen books and numerous articles. Her recent books include Making All Things New: Catholicity, Cosmology and Consciousness (Orbis, 2015) and The Unbearable Wholeness of Being:  God, Evolution and the Power of Love (Orbis 2013) which received the 2014 Silver Nautilus Book Award. She lectures nationally and internationally in the areas of science, religion and culture with a particular focus on faith and evolution, artificial intelligence and human becoming. She is the general editor for the series "Catholicity in an Evolving Universe ' published by Orbis Books and directs the Omega Center website.

Date: 
Friday, 27 April, 2018 - 16:00 to 18:00
Event location: 
St Edmund's College (Garden Room)

 

 

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