Tracy J. Trothen
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2
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About
Tracy J. Trothen is a leading scholar at the intersection of religion, ethics, and emerging technologies, with a particular focus on how transhumanist and enhancement technologies reshape spiritual and moral life. Her work critically examines the ethical implications of affective and spiritual enhancement—asking what it means to engineer happiness or deepen spiritual experience through technological means. In her widely discussed paper "Affective Enhancement and Spiritual Enhancement: Feeling Happier and More Spiritual" (2021), Trothen challenges simplistic notions of enhancement, arguing that authentic spiritual growth requires vulnerability, struggle, and relational depth—qualities that technological shortcuts may undermine. Though her citation counts reflect a growing field, her influence extends beyond academia into public discourse on the ethics of human augmentation. Trothen is also co-editor of the landmark volume *Religion and Human Enhancement*, and her interdisciplinary approach bridges theological ethics, disability studies, and bioethics. For students and researchers, her work offers a vital counterpoint to techno-optimism, insisting that any meaningful conversation about human flourishing must include the wisdom of religious and spiritual traditions.
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