Between Soul and Algorithm: Religion and the Humanities in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Dear Colleagues,

Thematic Overview

This Special Issue is borne out of a pressing realization: we are no longer on the brink of a transhumanist future—we are already living within it. Our contemporary moment is defined by the accelerating integration of artificial intelligence, biotechnology, cognitive enhancement, and algorithmic governance into the everyday structures of life. Technologies that once belonged to the speculative margins of science fiction have now become infrastructural realities. They reshape not only our modes of production and communication, but the most fundamental questions of moral responsibility, embodiment, and metaphysical self-understanding.

These developments are global in scope. While billion dollar investments in AI and emerging technologies are concentrated in the United States and China, the Gulf region—particularly Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates—has emerged as a new axis of techno-futurist ambition. Projects such as Saudi Vision 2030 and NEOM exemplify a strategic drive to reengineer economic, social, and ethical life around digital infrastructures and post-oil economies. These initiatives are not merely utilitarian or technocratic; they carry with them an implicit anthropology, one in which the human being is rendered programmable, optimizable, and ultimately surpassable.

Yet the ethical, philosophical, and theological consequences of these shifts remain underexplored—especially within the context of Muslim-majority societies. Despite the magnitude of transformation, the engagement of Muslim scholars in critical posthumanist and AI discourse has been relatively limited. Since the release of large language models like ChatGPT, however, there has been a marked increase in interest among Muslim thinkers, educators, and institutions. This moment demands not only response but proactive conceptual work: a reconstruction of the moral and metaphysical frameworks needed to engage the age of artificial cognition.

At the same time, this Special Issue is not restricted to Islamic perspectives. It seeks to bring religions and the humanities into serious dialogue with the political, ethical, and ontological questions raised by artificial intelligence and posthumanism. Contributions rooted in Christian theology, Jewish ethics, Buddhist metaphysics, Hindu philosophy, comparative religion, psychoanalysis, and philosophical anthropology are equally welcome. The aim is to foster a plural and generative intellectual space in which traditions speak not only to their own internal audiences but also to the shared ethical terrain of a world in transformation.

Core Questions

How do religious and philosophical traditions account for personhood, agency, and moral responsibility in a world increasingly mediated by machines? What happens to categories like nafs, rūḥ, or imago Dei when the line between human and artificial cognition begins to blur? How do legal, ritual, and pedagogical frameworks respond to enhancements of the body or simulations of the mind? How can insights from theology, metaphysics, and hermeneutics shape public discussions on algorithmic ethics, digital embodiment, and the limits of human reason?

We are also interested in how state-led projects—such as Japan’s Society 5.0 and Saudi Vision 2030—contribute to the theological reconfiguration of life. These are not merely economic development plans; they are secular eschatologies, offering a vision of salvation through data and infrastructure. How do religious traditions respond to such narratives—critically, constructively, or theologically?

Thematic Scope

We welcome essays that engage the religious, ethical, political, and epistemological implications of AI and transhumanism. Topics may include, but are not limited to, the following areas:

• Theological and philosophical anthropology in light of posthumanist theory;
• Simulation of desire, knowledge, and authority through AI;
• Islamic kalām and atomism in response to digital metaphysics;
• The transformation of taklīf, agency, and responsibility in algorithmic societies;
• Law, ritual, and embodiment in technologically augmented contexts;
• The political theology of smart cities and techno-governance;
• Interreligious and comparative engagements with artificial consciousness and moral status;
• The future of humanities education under conditions of automation and predictive systems.

Objective

The aim of this Special Issue is to reassert the ethical, speculative, and theological capacities of religious traditions and the humanities in confronting the most urgent transformations of our time. In the face of a rapidly shifting techno-political order, this Issue proposes that theology and philosophy are not backward-looking disciplines, but forward-facing modes of thought capable of shaping the moral architecture of a posthuman world. Whether grounded in Islamic metaphysics, Christian eschatology, Buddhist non-dualism, or secular critical theory, we seek contributions that take the ethical challenge posed by AI seriously—not merely as a technical issue, but as a reconfiguration of the human condition.

Dr. Nuha Alshaar
Dr. Hureyre Kam
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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• artificial intelligence
• ethics
• post- and transhumanism
• religion
• philosophy
• theology
• cultural relevance theory
• peace studies
• education
• media
• critical literacy
• AI
• smart government