Rethinking the Nature of Cognition and Experience: Enactivism in the Context of Modern Technological Transformations

Summary

This paper applies the enactivist approach to understanding cyborgization—the technological transformation of human nature through body-integrated devices. Enactivism, which views cognition as emerging from interaction with the environment, helps overcome dualistic views of humans and technology. The author explores how this framework can address ethical issues in modern technological transformations, including visual perception, moral judgment, and ideological oppression. The synthesis of enactivism with the free energy principle is highlighted as promising for research into cyborgization. The analysis identifies future research avenues for building an ethically sound philosophical foundation for technological advancement.

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Abstract

This paper seeks to present a novel perspective on the enactivist approach, which in turn offers new insights into the comprehension and understanding of contemporary and complex social phenomena such as cyborgization. In the context of this article, the term 'cyborgization' can be understood as denoting the processes of technological transformation of human nature, whereby technological devices are integrated with the human body. This leads to the emergence of new forms of embodied cognition and experience, which result in the blurring of the boundaries between human and machine components, and the formation of qualitatively new ways of interacting with the environment. In this regard, the enactivist approach allows for a productive exploration of ethical issues in the context of modern technological transformations. The article presents a novel perspective on the nature of cognition and experience through the lens of enactivism, with a view to demonstrate its potential for overcoming the limitations of traditional naturalistic conceptions of consciousness. The author aims to examine the fundamental tenets of enactivist theory, encompassing visual perception and extending to the intricate subject of moral judgment formation and the phenomenon of ideological oppression. Particular attention is paid to the synthesis of enactivism with the principle of free energy and its potential application to research into human cyborgization. The article demonstrates that the enactivist approach enables us to transcend dualistic notions of the relationship between humans and technology. Furthermore, it has the potential to facilitate a more comprehensive understanding of the essence and processes of technological transformation of human nature. Based on a critical examination of utopian and scientific trends in the evolution of enactivism, promising avenues for future research are identified. This analysis presents a multitude of potential pathways for establishing an ethically sound philosophical foundation for technological advancement. It offers a framework within which the complexities of the modern era can be fully understood and constructive solutions to emerging ethical challenges can be devised.

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