What is the relation between phenomenology as the study of lived experience and modern technology? On a link from Stockholm, Alexandra Farazouli will explain to us how "postphenomenology" aims to answer this question! We will discuss if it can help us deal with the ethical challenges surrounding the use of AI in higher education. All are warmly welcome to the room or the zoom link, from 15:00.

Postphenomenology is a contemporary approach in the philosophy of technology that examines how technologies mediate relations between humans and world. Building on phenomenology while reorienting its central task, postphenomenology directs attention to the technologically mediated character of intentional human–world relations (Ihde, 1990; Verbeek, 2005). Rather than treating technologies as neutral instruments, this perspective examines how technological artefacts mediate existence and experience, shaping and being shaped by our choices, actions, and our perception of the world (Rosenberger & Verbeek, 2015).

In this seminar, I discuss central concepts in postphenomenology and technology mediation theory, including human-technology- relations, multistability, freedom and technomorality. I then connect this approach to my doctoral research on emerging AI and ethics in higher education. In my work, I explore how emerging AI artefacts mediate higher education practices, reshape teachers’ roles, and open up ‘new’ ethical questions within higher education.

Ihde, Don. 1990. Technology and the Lifeworld: From Garden to Earth. Indiana University Press.

Rosenberger, Robert, and Peter P. C. C. Verbeek. 2015. Postphenomenological Investigations: Essays on Human-Technology Relations. Lexington Books.

Verbeek, Peter-Paul. 2005. What Things Do: Philosophical Reflections on Technology, Agency, and Design. Penn State University Press.