Technoaxia: Towards an ethics of invisible mediation in the digital age
Journal
Explorations in Media Ecology
ISSN
15397785
Publisher
Intellect
Date Issued
2026-07-01
Type
Article
Abstract
This article proposes Technoaxia as a new ethical framework for navigating the moral complexity of the digital age. Drawing on the Platonic myth of the Ring of Gyges as an allegory for the power of technological invisibility, and on the media–ecological tradition from Marshall McLuhan to Neil Postman, the article argues that existing ethical frameworks – virtue ethics, deontology and utilitarianism – are insufficient because they were not designed to address effects that are structural, unconscious and mediated. Technoaxia, understood as an ethics of the invisible mediation of technology, focuses precisely on this gap: the systematic study of how media and technologies reshape human values below the threshold of conscious awareness and the cultivation of reflexive agency in response. The article critically engages with the literature on AI ethics, identifies its limitations and applies the Technoaxia framework to the concrete case of generative AI in education, demonstrating how the framework differs from and advances beyond prior proposals. The article concludes with the foundational principles of Technoaxia and a call for interdisciplinary implementation across education, design and governance. © 2026 Intellect Ltd.