DIALOGUE WITH PYTHAGORAS: THE ETHICS OF DIGITAL MENTORSHIP IN THE MIRROR OF ANCIENT PEDAGOGY

Abstract

The article presents a comparative analysis of the ethical foundations of ancient mentorship in the Pythagorean school and contemporary models of digital mentorship based on artificial intelligence. The relevance of the study is driven by the rapid integration of AI tutors into educational practice, which raises questions about preserving the ethical dimension of education – a dimension traditionally inseparable from the mentor’s personal presence and moral agency. The aim of the work is to reconstruct the ethical principles of Pythagorean pedagogy (friendship, communal property, voluntary learning, and “care of the self” as a central category of upbringing) and to juxtapose them with the ethical deficits inherent in algorithmic systems. The methodological framework comprises historical-pedagogical analysis of primary sources (Diogenes Laertius, Porphyry, Iamblichus), a comparative approach, and a conceptual reconstruction of the notion of “care of the self” as interpreted by contemporary scholars. The analysis identifies four fundamental deficits of digital mentorship: the absence of personal accountability, the impossibility of genuine care, the loss of co-presence, and the erosion of the esoteric character of knowledge transmission. It is demonstrated that these deficits are not technical but ontological in nature, since an algorithm lacks subjectivity, free will, and the capacity for moral discernment. As a constructive outcome, the study proposes a hybrid model in which AI performs auxiliary diagnostic and informational functions, while ethical guidance and the formation of character remain the responsibility of a living mentor. The article is addressed to researchers in the history of pedagogy, philosophy of education, and digital ethics.