Cyberspace and its Relation to Knowledge

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Mahdi Abbaszadeh 1
Zeynab Shokri 2
1 Institute for Islamic Culture and Thought (IICT), Tehran, Iran
2 Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies, Tehran, Iran,
10.22034/zehn.2025.2071990.2151
Abstract
Today, with the emergence, openness, and expanding development of cyberspace as the lifeworld and the second domain of contemporary human life, as well as the main source of their awareness and knowledge, examining the various dimensions and aspects of this realm—especially its relationship to epistemology—from a philosophical perspective appears necessary and inevitable. In this regard, the present study, while addressing the nature, existence, and components of cyberspace, seeks to present an analysis of the relationship between this space and the concept of knowledge through an analytical-rational method. This research attempts to demonstrate the following points: 1. in the current state of science and technology, and based on realist philosophical foundations, the conception of cyberspace as a cognitive (minded) subject is excluded. 2. Cyberspace and the Internet are objects of knowledge — that is, the acquired and representational knowables — for contemporary humans. They serve as sources of information and awareness, functioning as tools that enhance the cognitive capacities of human beings. 3. Cyberspace and its contents cannot be considered or explained as a form of knowledge or cognition in themselves, since this domain is not minded and thus possesses no knowledge or cognition within or from itself. 4. Whether considered a non-epistemic or epistemic agent, cyberspace exerts significant constructive and destructive influences on humans' posterior knowledge.
Keywords
Cyberspace
knowledge
internet
mind
mindedness

Subjects

 
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