Neurotechnologies, Bioethics, and Religion

Emerging neurotechnologies combine neuroscience with AI to collect and interpret human brain data, connect brains to machines or other brains, and modify neural functions. This paper explores questions about human and individual identity, agency, and moral responsibility raised by these technological prospects. From a Protestant Christian standpoint, these questions are addressed in light of two biblical and theological themes: the image of God and the body of Christ. The *imago Dei* is understood “performatively”: not so concerned with defining humanity as with “actively *seeking* humanity” (Alistair McFadyen) where the humanity of some is placed in doubt. In dialog with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, I argue that a faithful performance of the *imago* will enact the vision of human sociality offered by the metaphor of the body of Christ: one of mutual interconnectedness without loss of identity, in which agency and responsibility can be shared and mutually supported without being lost or obscured.

In this paper I will explore the use of computer brain interfaces (CBIs) for moral enhancement. One of the types of enhancement that will be discussed is a reduction of violence. However, this raises questions about control and free will, so while there may be solid philosophical reasons to prohibit requiring this kind of moral enhancement, there may be compelling theological reasons why people might choose voluntarily to do so. The concluding section will focus on the relationship between moral enhancement and virtue. While there is not universal consensus, there does seem to be some agreement amongst scholars that using gene editing for moral enhancement cannot engineer virtue. The question posed here is whether CBIs and their use can bring about virtue, or if they simply allow people to act more morally. My tentative answer is that this is more complicated of an answer than with gene editing.

The ability to connect and exchange information facilitates the work of God. For many liberal theological traditions, this is the primary way God works in the world, through people and their relationships. The love of God is communicated through speech-acts among created beings. Consequently, in the postmodern conext of the Network Society and Information Age, theological interaction with technologies like brain-machine interfaces tends toward an affirmation of enhanced communication. Anything that may enhance our ability to connect honors our created nature as relational beings and the work of God in the world. Theologians generally recognize the importance of embodiment and the importance of embodied autonomy. Jeanine Thweatt, for example, suggests a contextual, compassionate somatic ethic that asks, “what can this body do? And what does this body need?”[1] Theologians affirm embodiment, but particularly in light of brain-machine interfacing, what matters about the particularities of embodied information and its flow?

This paper is concerned primarily with brain-computer interfaces (BCI) and the potential for harm when we seek more intimate communication and relationships through this emerging technology. Specifically, the theological insight of Thomas Aquinas and the philosophical work of Stanley Cavell are taken up to help us better understand our desire for community, the limitations of that desire, and the psychological violence that follows our crashing up against these limitations. It is argued that a goal of BCI technology for unadulterated communication and relationship is not only likely to fail but even be a source for psychological torment. The closer we as humans come to the inner life of others, the more we are faced with our perpetual separateness—a separateness that leads to violence both internally and, in extreme cases, externally. Such violence not only informs the current development of BCI in relation to disability but broader hopes for enhancement.