Kant's doctrine of education and the problem of artificial intelligence

Bibliographic Data

ID11951572
AuthorsLeonid Yu Kornilaev (0000-0003-4520-3218, Kantian Rationality Lab & Academia Kantiana Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University Kaliningrad 236016 Russia, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume55
Issue6
Pages1072-1080
Publication date2021-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Philosophy of Education (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0309-8249 • E-ISSN: 1467-9752
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1111/1467-9752.12608
OpenAlexW4200561330
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited19

‘The human being’, Kant contends, ‘is the only creature that must be educated’. Thus, for Kant, the concept of education plays a central role in the answer to one of the fundamental questions of philosophy: What is the human being? Education is the means by which the rational powers definitive of our humanity are actualised and cultivated. It is thus the process in which individuals ‘become human’ and, at the same time, the process in which humanity strives to improve—indeed perfect—itself so that it should become possible for us to live in conformity with the requirements of morality in a cosmopolitan realisation of the kingdom of ends. This paper examines the extent to which the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) into educational practices forces us to rethink Kant's position. It is argued that the answer depends on whether systems embodying AI are viewed merely as tools to enhance educational practices or as fully fledged thinking subjects, capable of independent thought and agency. While the former view leaves Kant's basic position intact, the latter compels us to entertain certain important revisions, forcing us to grant that education is not exclusively a relation between human beings, as Kant maintains, and that some nonhuman entities might themselves educate and be educated. Moreover, AI might force us to rethink Kant's fundamental question ‘What is the human being?’ itself. I conclude, however, that notwithstanding the challenges AI poses, Kant's perspective retains its relevance even if it might benefit from supplementation and revision in light of post- and transhumanist perspectives

Agency (philosophy · Doctrine · Epistemology · Higher education · Humanity · Morality · Philosophy of education · Political science · Practical reason · Relation (database · Relevance (law · Sociology · Computer Science · Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics · Ethics and Social Impacts of AI · Law · Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations · Philosophy

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