Philosophical and ethical challenges of using neurotechnologies in higher education: a crisis of identity
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46502/issn.1856-7576/2026.20.03.21Keywords:
cognitive potential, higher education technologies, human dimension of education, neuroethics, philosophical and anthropological discourse.Abstract
The aim of the article is to determine the philosophical and ethical dimension of the use of neurotechnologies in higher education. The objectives of the study are focused on distinguishing the problem of neuroethics from the broader trend of technological solutions. The philosophical foundation of the research is reduced to ethical reservations regarding the status of neurotechnologies in education, which are considered alongside the epistemological endorsement and existential uncertainty of this instrument. The research methodology is concentrated around an analytical cluster of general scientific and philosophical approaches. The scholarly vectors of comparative and discourse analysis are supplemented by corresponding philosophical cases of dialectics and synergy. The results of the study indicate the formation, within the contemporary scientific and philosophical worldview, of a balance between the technological characteristics of neuroactivity in higher education and the worldview-based and mental regulative principles governing its application. The role of neurotechnologies is realised through cases of neuromonitoring, neurointerfaces, and cognitive enhancement, which demonstrate an unequivocal influence on the cognitive potential of participants in the educational process. The philosophical and ethical dilemma points to the need to protect self-identity from an aggressive external factor. Under posthumanist conditions of the blurring of human essence and the sociocultural dominance of pragmatic solutions, the crisis of self-identity deepens. Neurotechnologies may shape two scenarios of influence on the human-centred development of science and philosophy: a radical one, involving the replacement of human cognitive potential by technological solutions, with a partial or complete loss of identity; and an evolutionary one, in which they acquire the status of an epistemologically active instrument that expands the human intellectual and emotional repertoire without threatening the existential constants of human essence and nature.
References
Alipoor, J., & Pourrashidi, H. (2025). A critical study on the researches about the application of neurotechnology in education. International Journal of Neuroscience, 135(4), 496–503. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207454.2024.2311231
Astle, D. E., Bassett, D. S., & Viding, E. (2024). Understanding divergence: Placing developmental neuroscience in its dynamic context. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 157, 105539. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2024.105539
Bakker, A. B., & Mostert, K. (2024). Study demands–resources theory: Understanding student well-being in higher education. Educational Psychology Review, 36(3), 92. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-024-09940-8
Boulos, L.-J. (2024). The brain digitalization: it's all happening so fast! Frontiers in Human Dynamics, 6, 1475438. https://doi.org/10.3389/fhumd.2024.1475438
Bryce, T. G. K., & Blown, E. J. (2025). Knowledge acquisition in science and the blurred boundary between perception and cognition. British Educational Research Journal, 51, 1372–1400. https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.4103
Cinel, C., Valeriani, D., & Poli, R. (2019). Neurotechnologies for human cognitive augmentation: Current state of the art and future prospects. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 13, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2019.00013
Clark, A. J. (2003). Natural-born cyborgs: Minds, technologies and the future of human intelligence. Oxford University Press.
Darvishi, A., Khosravi, H., Sadiq, S., & Weber, B. (2022). Neurophysiological measurements in higher education: A systematic literature review. International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education, 32, 413–453. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40593-021-00256-0
Ding, Y. (2026). From ethics to governance: Why neurotechnology requires institutionally actionable concepts. Neurotechnology, Society & Governance, 1(1), 93–115. https://www.nsg-journal.org/nsg/article/view/6/5
Eberwine, J., & Kahn, J. (2020). The BRAIN initiative and neuroethics: Enabling and enhancing neuroscience advances for society. AJOB Neuroscience, 11(3), 135–139. https://doi.org/10.1080/21507740.2020.1778121
Eaton, S. E. (2024). Future-proofing integrity in the age of artificial intelligence and neurotechnology: Prioritizing human rights, dignity, and equity. International Journal for Educational Integrity, 20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40979-024-00175-2
Floridi, L. (2023). The ethics of artificial intelligence: Principles, challenges, and opportunities. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198883098.001.0001
Foucault, M. (1995). Discipline and punish: The birth of the prison. Vintage Books.
Giordano, J., Benedikter, R., & Shook, J. R. (2024). Neuroanthropology: Toward a “posthuman” technological self? In Neuroscience, Neuroculture, and Neuroethics. SpringerBriefs in Political Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-74024-4_8
Gracia-Calandín, J. (2019). Non-naturalistic neuroethics for moral neuroeducation. In P. Calvo & J. Gracia-Calandín (Eds.), Moral neuroeducation for a democratic and pluralistic society (pp. 19–34). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22562-9_2
Ienca, M. (2021). Common human rights challenges raised by different applications of neurotechnologies in the biomedical field. Council of Europe. https://rm.coe.int/report-final-en/1680a429f3
Jiao, D. (2025). Leveraging neurotechnology for neurodivergent education: a narrative review. Learning: Research and Practice, 11(1), 13–37. https://doi.org/10.1080/23735082.2025.2517052
Lupton, D. (2019). Toward a more-than-human approach to neurotechnologies. AJOB Neuroscience, 10(4), 174–176. https://doi.org/10.1080/21507740.2019.1665136
Martinez, W., Benerradi, J., Midha, S., Maior, H. A., & Wilson, M. L. (2022). Understanding the ethical concerns for neurotechnology in the future of work. Proceedings of the 1st Annual Meeting of the Symposium on Human-Computer Interaction for Work, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1145/3533406.3533423
Mayer, L. J. P. N., & Mayer, C. H. (2025). Elon Musk 4.0: A psychobiography of transhumanism and Frankl’s existential meaning theory. International Review of Psychiatry, 37(5), 427–444. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540261.2025.2507284
Metzinger, T. (2015). M-autonomy. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 22(11–12), 270–302. https://www.blogs.uni-mainz.de/fb05philosophie/files/2013/04/Metzinger_M-Autonomy_JCS_2015.pdf
Nieves-Méndez, C. (2026). From neurotechnology to the classroom: The promise of brain–computer interfaces for training systems engineers. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 19, 1733768. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2025.1733768
Nitto, M. A. (2025). Neurotechnologies with transhumanist purposes: The future gap between “enhanced” and ‘non-enhanced’ human beings”. Revista de bioética y derecho, 4–29. https://doi.org/10.1344/rbd2025.63.47284
Nouri, A. (2025). A scoping review of educational neurotechnology: Methods, applications, opportunities, and challenges. Review of Education, 13, e70070. https://doi.org/10.1002/rev3.70070
Paredes Rosado, K. A., & Rodríguez Flores, K. J. (2025). Neurorights and teaching ethics: A new horizon for higher education. NeuroData, 2, 102. https://neuro.jogbeditorial.ec/index.php/neuro/article/view/102
Parsons, T. D. (2019). Neuroethics in educational technology: Keeping the brain in mind when developing frameworks for ethical decision-making. In Parsons, T. D., Lin, L., Cockerham, D. (Eds.), Mind, Brain and Technology. Educational Communications and Technology: Issues and Innovations. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02631-8_11
Peñafiel Villavicencio, P. V., Trejo Lozano, R., Paredes Andrade, Y. L., & Vieyra González, F. J. (2025). Neurotechnologies and higher learning: from the lab to the classroom. NeuroData, 2, 104. https://neuro.jogbeditorial.ec/index.php/neuro/article/view/104
Privitera, A. J., & Du, H. (2022). Educational neurotechnology: Where do we go from here? Trends in Neuroscience and Education, 29, 100195. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tine.2022.100195
Ramírez-Moreno, M. A., Díaz-Padilla, M., Valenzuela-Gómez, K. D., Vargas-Martínez, A., Tudón-Martínez, J. C., Morales-Menendez, R., Ramírez-Mendoza, R. A., Pérez-Henríquez, B. L., & Lozoya-Santos, J. d. J. (2021). EEG-Based tool for prediction of university students’ cognitive performance in the classroom. Brain Sciences, 11(6), 698. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11060698
Ridolfi, L. F., & Santos, S. S. (2025). Neurotechnology and philosophy of neuroscience: ethical and ontological challenges in the era of brain-computer interfaces. Revista Ibero-Americana De Humanidades, Ciências E Educação, 11(9), 2880–2892. https://doi.org/10.51891/rease.v11i9.21134
Ricoeur, P. (2004). Memory, history, forgetting. University of Chicago Press. https://hdl.handle.net/2027/heb04911.0001.001
Sanabria-Z, J., Cebral-Loureda, M., Antelis, J. M., & Lee, S. (2025). Advances in complex thinking and neurotechnologies in education: a bibliometric analysis of research trends. Cognitive Processing, 26, 611–624. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-025-01273-w
Schleidgen, S., Friedrich, O., & Wolkenstein, A. (2022). How intelligent neurotechnology can be epistemically unjust. An exploration into the ethics of algorithms. Review of Social Economy, 80(1), 106–126. https://doi.org/10.1080/00346764.2021.1979241
Sinaci, M., & Hasmatuchi, G. (2023). Education, neurotechnologies, and ethics. An overview. EON, 1, 161-176. https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=1124526
UNESCO. (2025). Recommendation on the ethics of neurotechnology. https://www.unesco.org/en/legal-affairs/recommendation-ethics-neurotechnology
Vidal, C. (2024). The convergence of neurotechnology and digital technology in education: ethical and societal issues. HAL Id. inserm-04976034. https://inserm.hal.science/inserm-04976034v1
Walker, M. J., & Mackenzie, C. (2020). Neurotechnologies, relational autonomy, and authenticity. International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics, 13(1), 98-119. https://doi.org/10.3138/ijfab.13.1.06
Williamson, B., Pykett, J., & Kotouza, D. (2026). Learning brains: educational neuroscience, neurotechnology and neuropedagogy. Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 34(2), 515–535. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681366.2025.2521458
Wang, Y. B., Yao, Z. M., & Zhang, G. H. (2025). The role of neurofeedback games in enhancing cognitive abilities during physical education lessons. Acta Psychologica, 259, 105405. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2025.105405
Yang, J. (2025). Reversibility of neurotechnological interventions: Conceptual and ethical issues. Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy, 28, 375–392. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11019-025-10282-7
Yang, Y., & Zhou, J. (2025). Damage and restoration of personal identity in deep brain stimulation: A relational perspective. Neuroethics, 18. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12152-025-09614-4
Zheng, X.-L., Lyu, Z.-Y., Wang, S.-Y., Wang, F., Kong, X., Hwang, G.-J., & Tu, Y.-F. (2026). From emotion regulation to academic success: A self-determination theory-based emotional agent-mediated approach. British Journal of Educational Technology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.70083
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Mykola Kozlovets, Galyna Poperechna, Viktor Gudz, Nataliia Shakun, Oksana Plaksina
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
