Contemporary Wisdom

Analyzing the Existential Boundaries of the Artificial Teacher and the Wise Teacher: A Critique of Reductionism in Technological Education

Articles in Press

Document Type : Biannual Journal

Authors

Hamid Ahmadi-Hedayat 1
Najmeh Ahmadabadi Arani 2

1 Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Sciences, Farhangian University, P.O. Box 14665-889 Tehran, Iran.

2 Phd Philosophy of Education and Lecturer at Shahid Rajaee Teacher Training University

10.30465/cw.2026.54005.2168
Abstract
The present study investigates the existential boundaries between the artificial teacher and the wise teacher, offering a critique of reductionism in technological education. Employing a descriptive-analytical and deductive methodology grounded in Mulla Sadra’s Transcendent Philosophy, this study examines the possibility or impossibility of machines fulfilling an educational role. The findings indicate that despite its efficiency in information processing and behavioral simulation, artificial intelligence remains ontologically situated at the level of inanimate matter due to its lack of a rational soul and knowledge by presence, rendering it incapable of comprehending semantic meaning. Since upbringing within Transcendent Philosophy is defined as the existential intensification of the learner, replacing the human teacher with an artificial agent is philosophically impossible because machines lack spiritual and moral perfections. Furthermore, based on the philosophical maxim "one who lacks a thing cannot bestow it", the artificial teacher—being inherently void of spiritual life, wisdom, and moral virtue—is unable to impart these qualities to the learner and cannot serve as an agent of the student's spiritual self-actualization. Ultimately, the study concludes that AI should function solely as a cognitive support tool, while the status of existential guidance and moral upbringing must remain the exclusive prerogative of the human teacher.

Keywords

Artificial Intelligence
Transcendent Philosophy
Gradation of Being
Wise Teacher
Substantial Motion
Technological Education
Subjects
Contemporary Wisdom

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 21 July 2026

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