Critical Feasibility Study of Anthropological Challenges in the Age of AI: with emphasis on transcendent theosophy and Heidegger’s philosophy

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 PhD Candidate in Islamic Theology (Kalām), University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran.

2 Associate Professor, Department of Islamic Philosophy and Theology, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran.

3 Associate Professor, Department of Islamic Philosophy and Theology, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran

Abstract

The emergence of AI, far beyond a mere instrumental transformation, confronts ontological foundations and anthropological teleologies with the problem of "existential reductionism" (i.e., the reduction of the transcendent and non-quantitative aspects of the human to computational data). Employing a descriptive-analytical method and a comparative-critical approach, this study addresses the opposition between technological anthropology and sapiential-philosophical anthropology. Its theoretical framework rests on two pillars: Transcendent Theosophy (substantial motion, existential intensification, and the immateriality of the soul) and Heidegger's existential philosophy (Dasein, Gestell [Enframing], and the relationship between truth and technology). The findings indicate that from the perspective of Transcendent Theosophy, AI—due to its lack of being basīṭ al-ḥaqīqah (a simple, undivided reality) and its deprivation of knowledge by presence (al-ʿilm al-ḥuḍūrī)—remains merely at the level of "accident" (ʿaraḍ) and cannot attain the plane of imaginal and intellectual immateriality. From Heidegger's standpoint, AI represents the ultimate symbol of the realm of Gestell [Enframing], which, by converting human beings and the world into "standing-reserve" (Bestand), divests Dasein of its authenticity and the experience of being-toward-death. Ultimately, by critically assessing the ontological equality of human and machine, the study concludes that the fundamental solution is not the negation of technology, but rather a return to existential self-awareness and a redefinition of the human-technology relationship based on practical wisdom and spiritual contemplation—so as to prevent the degradation of the human being's divine vicegerency (khilāfat Allāh) into mere technological instrumentality.

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Critical Feasibility Study of Anthropological Challenges in the Age of AI: with emphasis on transcendent theosophy and Heidegger’s philosophy

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Journal of Philosophical Investigations
Volume 20, Issue 55 - Serial Number 55
Articles
Issue 55, Summer 2026
July 2026
Pages 31-54

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