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ISSUE:    Manuscript. 2026. Volume 19. Issue 2
COLLECTION:    Social and Political Philosophy

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“Real ethics” of artificial intelligence and the problem of moral escapism

Marina Anatolyevna Dedyulina
Southern Federal University, Rostov-on-Don
Submitted: June 24, 2026
Abstract. The aim of the study is to construct a concept of “real ethics of artificial intelligence (AI)” that facilitates a shift away from the dominant design paradigm – characterized by privileging displacing relations – toward the expansion of phronesis on the basis of an explicated Churchillian principle and a diagnosis of forms of moral escapism. The scientific novelty lies in the first application of the Churchillian principle to AI; the identification of moral escapism in AI practice; the development of a typology of mediation of phronesis; the demonstration that the prevailing AI‑design paradigm systematically prioritizes displacing and attenuating relations; and the formulation of principles of “real ethics of AI” aimed at expanding, rather than replacing, human practical reason. The study shows that W. Churchill’s principle is applicable to AI analysis; it identifies the main forms of moral escapism and their manifestations in AI use. The work constructs and substantiates a typology of technological mediation of phronesis, and demonstrates that the dominant design paradigm favors relations that displace or weaken human practical agency. Finally, the paper formulates principles of “real ethics of AI” oriented toward augmentation of human practical reason rather than its substitution.
Key words and phrases:
реальная этика
моральный эскапизм
расширение фронезиса
искусственный интеллект
технологическое опосредование
real ethics
moral escapism
expansion of phronesis
artificial intelligence
technological mediation
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