Course Description
What does it mean to be human? How do our imperfections inform and reveal our humanity? How does pride in our achievements blind us to the truth of our humanity? Are machines becoming more like humans, or are humans becoming more like machines? When does a tool change from something that we use into something that uses us? What does it reveal about our unspoken assumptions about the human person that we can even imagine calling a machine “intelligent?” Does “intelligence” require the embodied experience of relationship with others in a physically real world? Is it ethical for an AI to pretend to be human? Can an AI make a morally significant decision? What can we learn from the tradition about how to safeguard and promote authentic human flourishing?
In this four part class, Dr Laurie Johnson and Deacon Christopher May will bring the Catholic wisdom tradition to bear on the challenges to the human person that result from “Artificial Intelligence,” especially through Pope Leo XIV’s recent encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas. The Maurin Academy’s namesake, French-American Catholic philosopher Peter Maurin (1877-1949), brought the wisdom of the Catholic spiritual and intellectual tradition to bear on the problems of his time. He sought ways to bring forth a world that would foster authentic integral human flourishing, a world in which it would be easier to be good. The Maurin Academy seeks to continue his work, applying his insights to our present age.
Course image: Michelangelo, Figure studies for The Creation of Adam in the Sistine Chapel, A 027 verso (link)
When, Where, Who
When: The course will meet over four Mondays: 10/12, 10/19, 10/26, 11/2. All course meetings will take place from 7-8:30pm CST.
Where: All sessions will be held on Zoom. Live sessions are available to Maurin Academy patrons at the Worker-Scholar tier or above. Recordings will be made available to patrons at the Salt of the Earth tier or above. Check out our Patreon for more info!
Who: The course is taught by Dr. Laurie Johnson and Deacon Christopher May.
Course Schedule
All primary course readings will come from Magnifica Humanitas.
- October 12 – The Church Confronts the “New Things”: The Development of Catholic Social Teaching
- Leader: Deacon Chris May
- Primary Reading: Magnifica Humanitas, Introduction and Chapters 1 and 2.
- Description: In this first session, Deacon Chris and Laurie will discuss Pope Leo XIV’s survey of Catholic Social. With a good understanding of the development of CST we can see how human beings have grappled morally and spiritually with changes in technology and society over time. The Pope believes that AI represents just the latest challenge to truly human living. What conception of the human person should govern our judgment of AI? How do dignity, the common good, subsidiarity, solidarity, and social justice provide standards by which technological developments can be judged?
- October 19 – Technology and Dominance: The Grandeur of Humanity in Light of the Promises of AI
- Leader: Laurie Johnson
- Primary Reading: Magnifica Humanitas, Chapter 3.
- Description: Laurie and Deacon Chris will discuss how the technocratic paradigm and digital power can be seen as a valuable tool, but one that requires vigilance. We will unpack the threat of transhumanism/posthumanism, and discuss the necessity for responsibility, transparency and AI governance. How can contemplating the distinction between advanced technology and the human person help us to understand what it means to be human?
- October 26 – Technology and Dominance: The Grandeur of Humanity in Light of the Promises of AI
- Leader: Deacon Chris May
- Primary Reading: Magnifica Humanitas, Chapter 4.
- Description: Pope Leo speaks of truth as a common good, one that is threatened in the age of AI. Deacon Chris and Laurie will discuss the threats AI poses to our ability to communicate, our education, and democracy, as well as the dignity of work. How will AI transform our economy, and what will work mean in an age of advanced automation. We will discuss why Pope Leo addresses the history of slavery in this section as well.
- November 2 – Safeguarding Humanity at a Time of Transformation: Truth, Work, Freedom
- Leader: Laurie Johnson
- Primary Reading: Magnifica Humanitas, Chapter 5 and Conclusion.
- Desciption: In this final session, Laurie and Deacon Chris will discuss the themes of the culture of power versus the civilization of love via Pope Leo’s concerns about the abuse of digital power in international relations and war. Can decisions involving violence, human life, and death ever legitimately be surrendered to machines—and what alternative does Pope Leo’s “civilization of love” offer to the logic of technological domination?
Additional Recommended Readings: