The Ontology of Human Freedom in the Algorithmic Age: Reconstructing Philosophical Anthropology from Homo Digitalis to Imago Dei

Yohanes Gatot Sutapa Yuliana; Eugenio Agung Bimandaru; Felisitas Yuswanto

doi:10.55927/mudima.v6i7.103

Authors

Yohanes Gatot Sutapa Yuliana Universitas Tanjungpura
Eugenio Agung Bimandaru Sekolah Tinggi Agama Katolik Negeri Pontianak
Felisitas Yuswanto Sekolah Tinggi Agama Katolik Negeri Pontianak

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55927/mudima.v6i7.103

Keywords:

Artificial Intelligence, Digital Society, Human Freedom, Imago Dei, Theological Anthropolog

Abstract

The rapid development of artificial intelligence, digital algorithms, and social media has fundamentally transformed the way human beings think, make decisions, and construct their identities. Amid the abundance of choices and unlimited access to information, a new paradox emerges: people experience greater freedom while simultaneously having their consciousness subtly shaped by algorithmic systems, the attention economy, and digital connectivity. This study aims to examine the transformation of human freedom in the digital age from the perspectives of philosophy and Catholic theological anthropology. Employing a qualitative library research design, the study analyzes data through content analysis integrated with a critical hermeneutical approach involving data reduction, conceptual synthesis, philosophical-theological interpretation, and reflective conclusion drawing. The findings reveal that the central crisis of the digital era is fundamentally anthropological rather than technological. Human freedom is not eliminated directly but reconstructed into an illusion of freedom through algorithmic personalization, digital convenience, and predictive technological systems, gradually weakening reflective autonomy, authentic relationships, and moral responsibility. The study further argues that the transition toward Homo Digitalis must be counterbalanced by the development of Homo sapiens sapiens, a vision of humanity characterized not merely by knowledge but by moral wisdom capable of directing technology toward the common good. Grounded in the Christian understanding of the human person as imago Dei, technology should remain an instrument serving human dignity rather than redefining human existence itself. This study contributes a conceptual synthesis linking contemporary philosophy, Christian anthropology, and digital ethics, thereby offering a renewed theological perspective on human freedom in the age of artificial intelligence

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