Human Nature and the Ethics of Progress: Power and Purpose in 20th Century Religion, Science and Art

Throughout 20th century culture, various efforts to define the nature of progress directly contributed to competing visions of human nature. Theologians, scientists and artists struggled with one another, each group announcing different versions of the human subject based upon its definition of progress. Progress in all groups was a deeply ethical concept, one that crossed the disciplinary boundaries assumed to exist between the cultural domains. By advocating particular visions of human nature, each group offered an ethical vision for human action. This dynamic is visible in a comparative approach to liberation theology, robotics, and the contemporary art of Wolfgang Laib and the group Survival Research Laboratories. Just like the theologians, scientists and artists make ethical claims as to what is the ultimate good for humankind and both offer varieties of salvation to compete with that of the theologians. Dr. Geraci's work shows that in religion, science and art, expectations for progress were key to understanding how these various groups and individuals constructed the ethical values of the emerging human subject.