Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No.12, 2017

Extended Practice as a Philosophical Category

(Abstract)

Xiao Feng

The characteristics and modes of practice evolve as technology develops, and extended practice is a product of this evolution. It results from the contemporary integration of information control technology and the production technology of creation. Based on the embedding in a practical tool of a control technology possessing artificial intelligence, it achieves the replacement of physical energy, allowing the artificial system to exercise the function of creation relatively independently and shaping the outcome of practice. Extended practice is different from traditional practice in that people only have to carry out information acts through the issuing of instructions. In accordance with the difference in the technological methods that it relies on, extended practice can be divided into two basic types, the finger control type and the mental control type. The latter in particular represents the future developmental direction of extended practice at a higher level, and raises new philosophical questions with respect to the relationship between knowledge and practice. Multiple correlations exist between extended practice and extended cognition; the two contain and interpenetrate each other on the basis of mutual discrimination. As a contemporary form of human practice, extended practice brings new inspiration not only to the concept of philosophical practice, but also to the philosophy of the human body, the mind and the spirit.