‘Robot’, A Mirror for Humans : Liberal Arts Education in the Era of Technological Domination and How to Read this Era

Abstract

The winds of transition towards the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’ are very strong. The field of education is never outside their sphere of influence, and liberal arts education is no exception. However, it seems necessary for us to reflect differently on the fact that the trend of educational responses to adaptively accept current changes is only being strengthened. For instance, educational attempts to lead students to reflect critically and fundamentally on the prevailing trends of a particular era need to be made more actively than they are now, at least in the field of liberal arts education. This is because leading the generation who will live in a rapidly changing world to be aware of the historical context in which they are located has an educational weight that is difficult to overlook. In this regard, educational resources worth paying attention to are the redefinition discourse on the ‘human-machine’ and the preceding history of the digital age and hi-tech era symbolized by ‘robots’. The trajectories that intersect intellectual history, cultural history, and real history serve as a treasure trove of rich narratives and an important educational resource because they allow us to focus on the journey humanity has taken to reach the present stage. The field of liberal arts education, with its multidisciplinary characteristics, is the most appropriate place for these resources.