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This course examines how 4E (embodied, embedded, enactive, extended) approaches to cognition have challenged internalist views of memory and identity, and how digital technologies (social media, virtual reality, AI) bear on these debates. Students will acquire the conceptual tools to think about such technologies from the vantage point of contemporary philosophy of mind.
In the first part, you will be introduced to 4E approaches and their development focusing on the issue of whether cognitive processes are confined to the brain or constitutively involve the body and the environment. We will then turn to digital technologies as a testing ground for these views: can a smartphone or a search engine literally be part of our cognitive processes, and under what conditions does external scaffolding count as genuine extension rather than mere causal influence?
In the second part, we will apply these ideas to investigate the relation between new technologies, memory, and selfhood. We will address questions such as: what becomes of memory and identity in digital environments? How do social media profiles, virtual avatars, and algorithmic recommendation systems shape who we take ourselves to be? Can autobiographical memory and narrative identity be extended by digital technologies? What survives us in our digital remains?
Literature: The reading list will be provided on Moodle before the start of the course.
Language of Instruction: English.
Exam: Essay.