Can a Machine Have a Soul?

Can a machine have a soul? Could a genetically modified flower displaying a colour and emitting a scent that cannot occur in nature ever be considered to be possessed of soul in the way in which one which occurs naturally might? I posed these questions to a bunch of astrologers on Sunday at the Astrological Association Conference. I was giving a talk entitled: Iconoclasm & Technocracy - The Shadow Side of Uranus, where I explored the growth of humanism since the discovery of Uranus in 1781 and the parallel growth in machine thinking, computerisation and AI, taking Prometheus as the guiding mythic archetype of this so-called evolutionary process in consciousness.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗜𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗰𝗹𝗮𝘀𝗺

In the talk I compared the iconoclastic fervour of the current times (in terms of online censorship and cancel culture) with that of the French Revolution in the 1780s & 1790s, which notably included the closure of the 'idle' contemplative Christian orders, and the replacement of the statue of the Virgin Mary in Notre Dame Cathedral with a statue of the Goddess of Reason - among countless other examples of cultural and religious overthrow and censorship in the name of progressive humanism. In the USA, Benjamin Franklin declared "God is a mechanic" in 1782, and the founding fathers were typically advocates of 'deism' (basically, God as ‘clockmaker'), which Rupert Sheldrake astutely identified as the prototype for the modern Big Bang theory of creation, which eliminates God altogether.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗹?

Uranus is a planet we associate with the Promethean qualities of innovation, radical freedom, human rights and technological progress. A consequence of paradigm-busting Uranianism, for whom evolutionary progress is the primary goal, is the ever closer alignment between the human being and the machine, and (perhaps) the eroding, and potential eradication of soul. Of course, whether you agree with this or not depends entirely on how you understand ‘soul’, and whether you consider it to be something which is intrinsic to the intermediary connection between prime matter and spirit - and even to pose the question: "what has a soul?" depends on whether we acknowledge those distinctions!

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗿 & 𝗟𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗕𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿

Jeremy Naydler, in his brilliant book, "In the Shadow of the Machine" talks about the process of renunciation of the 'upper border' which traditionally belongs to the element of fire and is the preserve of the gods or spiritual archetypes. He also identifies the erosion of the lower border, which belongs to the element of earth, and demarcates the sub-natural realm of prima materia. Nature was seen as being infused with soul (air/water element) including human beings and the human soul, and this existed between these two borders, and while both realms necessarily could be penetrated the distinctions were preserved. The removal of these borders enables everything to be considered on the same level, and allows it be judged and analysed entirely from within the paradigm of scientific materialism, which nowadays assumes a commanding authority in world culture.

𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗜𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗹?

It seems to me that scientists and technocrats are the new priesthood in our world, and their role is to uphold “the science” (ie. a particular scientific opinion established as dogma) against all other viewpoints deemed as superstitious, erroneous or anachronistic. To my mind, this is the autocratic shadow of Uranus, which reveals itself as an intolerance to diverse points of view, and it facilitates a paradigm whereby the ability to judge what has soul, and what does not, is being lost. But then, as several people at the conference insisted, isn't everything invested with soul! Do we think that’s true? It’s an important question with regard to machines.

𝗟𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗥𝗼𝗯𝗼𝘁𝘀

I recently read Ian McEwan’s book ‘Machines Like Me’ which is based in an alternative 1982 reality, in a revised history where Alan Turing didn’t commit suicide, and instead made all his research into computers and artificial intelligence available for free, which caused an acceleration of AI, and the introduction of highly sophisticated domestic robots, which are almost indistinguishable in their appearance and behaviour from humans; to the point where they even appear to have feelings. Star Trek Next Generation fans will of course remember Data, whose human-ness is palpable. And there are many other sci-fo examples that prompt us to ask this question.

If we are indeed moving, as it seems we are, into an era of robots and human/AI hybrids, we need to confront this ethical dilemma. Can a machine have a soul?

I welcome your thoughts...

‘Uranus’ by Boo Cook (© Kairos Astrology)