The Transhumanist Temptation How Technology and Ideology Are Reshaping Humanity—And How to Resist

“Grayson Quay is one of the most interesting and daring young writers currently working. Here he tackles a subject of utmost importance—transhumanism—whose urgency will only continue to grow. Absolutely everyone can benefit from reading and grappling with the arguments in this eloquent book.”
Spencer Klavan
Author, How to Save the West and Light of the Mind, Light of the World

“In the age of AI and biotech, the question of whether humans should (or even can) reengineer our own nature cuts across Left and Right. In this lucid book, Grayson Quay sets out the stakes.”
Mary Harrington
Author, Feminism Against Progress

“Grayson Quay sounds the alarm about one of the most sinister ideologies menacing human dignity in our time. People of conscience across the political spectrum must pay attention.”
Sohrab Ahmari
U.S. Editor, UnHerd; Author, Tyranny, Inc.

“Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy once opined that everyone had a questionable right to ‘define one’s own concept of existence,’ regardless of the impact on others. Thirty years later, we now have a thriving ‘transhumanist’ movement threatening to unleash moral horrors and perversions on a massive scale, thanks to a zealous commitment to the false belief that dystopian technologies and enforced acceptance of delusional ideologies will allow us to transcend biological limitations. Fortunately for us, Grayson Quay’s The Transhumanist Temptation has arrived just in time to warn us about the potential dangers ahead. It is a remarkable and necessary book that does an excellent job marshaling the collective wisdom of everyone from Aristotle to C.S. Lewis to eloquently remind us why our very humanity is so wonderful and precious that it must be defended at all costs.”
Mollie Hemingway
Editor in Chief, The Federalist

“Quay addresses the question of our time with a thorough and holistic analysis. Most people think of the transhuman issue as a battle over the development of cutting-edge AI or cyborgs, but Quay identifies the movement as one rooted in a much older and more complicated aspect of human nature. In this moment, we must all ask, ‘What makes us human?’ and for Grayson, the question is one not simply of science but of transcendent purpose and truth.”
Auron MacIntyre
Host, The Auron MacIntyre Show; Author, The Total State: How Liberal Democracies Become Tyrannies

“Grayson Quay has done a profound service to the cause of a true humanism, which will inevitably be a Christian humanism. And his book is a delight to read as well."
Susannah Black Roberts
Editor, Plough

“Whether the Promethean fire or the tower of Babel, technological progress always makes claims upon the nature of man and his civilization. With a profound reflection on the Western canon, Grayson Quay both reminds us of the beauty of human purpose and warns us of the dehumanizing claims of modern technology.”
Deacon Harrison Garlick
Host, Ascend: The Great Books Podcast

“Today, being human seems to be a choice, or at least it can emerge as a choice once we become aware of the array of forces that deny or distract us from our humanity. ‘Transhumanism’ is as good a name as any for the threatening phenomenon, and The Transhumanist Temptation helps readers discern, orient, and resist. Drawing on the wisdom of the Catholic intellectual tradition, Quay perceptively analyzes various occasions of our growing spiritual amnesia—not only biomedical interventions and false ideologies but cultural trends, everyday technologies, and all the ingenious, insidious pandering of false prophets and deceitful muses.”
Joshua P. Hochschild
Professor of Philosophy, Mount St. Mary’s University

“At a time when everything feels a little too artificial, Grayson Quay pulls back the curtain on the transhumanism lurking behind so much of our world. The Transhumanist Temptation examines everything from birth control to artificial intelligence and finds that transhumanist ideology, so often dismissed as marginal, has had far more of an influence than we think. With sharp analysis and remarkable philosophical breadth, Quay walks us through the great struggle of our time: not just to save humanity but to keep it human.”
Matt Purple
Author, Decline from the Top

"This book is not just a critique. It’s a call to arms—a call to defend our humanity against the forces that seek to dismantle it, one false promise at a time. I cannot recommend it enough."
Jason Scott Jones
Founder, The Vulnerable People Project; Author, The Great Campaign

“Quay dismantles every article of techno-optimism—and I’m grateful for it. Any fellow techno-optimist owes it to himself to wrestle with this book. We still have a lot of work to do, and the best place to start is by listening to our sharpest critics.”
Katherine Dee
Internet culture reporter

“The pied piper of transhumanism is alluring to those raised in a deracinated culture taught to worship progress, whatever the outcome, as long as it rejects God’s created order. Quay carefully dissects those dangerous presumptions and masterfully explains not only why it is necessary not to be a transhumanist but why one should be an anti-transhumanist, to borrow a phrase.”
Kara McKinney
Host, Tipping Point

Grayson Quay is a former editor at The Week and The Daily Caller. His writing has appeared in National Review, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Newsweek, The American Conservative, The Spectator World, and other outlets. Grayson earned his M.A. from Georgetown University in 2019.