Critical Thinkers on the Threshold of Posthuman Philosophy : William Gladstone & George Tyrrell

In this essay I contemplate the possibility of posthuman philosophy within the religious and theological schools of thought. In doing this I do not focus on the traditional philosophical humanism which characterizes the scholastic and neo-scholastic approach within Western philosophy. Rather I focus on a “dehellenized” philosophical way of thinking that I hold characterizes the thresholds of a philosophical consciousness. That is to say the Hellenistic philosophical principles that support Western humanism are not used to support my understanding of a philosophy appropriate to posthumanity. As an existential philosopher with a view to evolving as a posthuman philosopher I evaluate aspects of the philosophical consciousness of William Gladstone (1809-1898) politician and George Tyrrell (theologian) in terms of both humanism and posthumanism from a phenomenological philosophical perspective. I realize that the phenomenological notion of humanity (in contrast to the classical idea of humanism) may not be adequately grasped by all philosophers. It seems to me that although many professionals appear to be somewhat conversant with general philosophical and theological notions that are pertinent to humanity they nonetheless are struggling to clarify their understanding of an emerging posthuman philosophy.