Discussion on the generative principles and moral cognitive capacity of artificial life
10.12026/j.issn.1001-8565.2026.01.02
- VernacularTitle:论人工生命的生成原则与道德认知能力
- Author:
Yidong WEI
1
;
Yuhui LI
1
Author Information
1. School of Philosophy， Shanxi University， Taiyuan 030006， China
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
artificial life;
self-organization;
emergence;
agency;
moral cognition;
adaptive representation
- From:
Chinese Medical Ethics
2026;39(1):12-21
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Artificial life is the goal pursued by cognitive philosophy， cognitive science， and artificial intelligence， yet its realization has consistently encountered challenge. The generative mechanisms of artificial life include self-organization， emergence， and agency， all of which are difficult to precisely grasp in the cognitive paradigm. Evolutionary biology demonstrates that natural life possesses extraordinary adaptability. For artificial artifacts， the way to endow them with life-like characteristics involves first transforming them into self-organizing systems with emergence， and then evolving them into embodied agents possessing agency and moral cognitive capacity. This process reveals the functional and informational properties of artificial life， manifesting its adaptive representational character.
