Post-truth conditions and the power of the false: Embodied learning with Spinoza

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 11:45 am - Gold 3
  In Roundtable Session: Continental Philosophy, Postmodernism, and Education

Abstract

This applied philosophy paper analyses recent US and UK AI education policy documents through Spinoza's 17th-century ethics, to address viral misinformation and algorithmic manipulation in post-truth computational culture. While current policies acknowledge algorithmic bias, they rely on technocratic solutions insufficient for post-truth conditions where the circulation of false beliefs undermines collective reasoning. Through policy analysis, literature review, and unpacking the learning models enacted in generative AI, we underscore limitations in existing frameworks and propose a Spinozist ethics of AI grounded in collective reasoning, embodied learning, and intuitive knowledge. This alternative ethics confronts the force of affect, the lack of algorithmic transparency, and addresses the environmental costs of AI, opening up a vision of collective thriving and civic reasoning.

Authors

• Joanna Dennis, Manchester Metropolitan University

• Elizabeth De Freitas, Adelphi University